My Postville Letters (June 18 – July 18, 2008)
Respectfully submitted for Congressional Record by
Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas
July 24, 2008
______
(In chronological order)
Date: Wed 18 Jun 22:29:53 EDT 2008* From: "Reginald Killingley"
Dear colleague Erik,
¡Excelentísimo! I found it not only very informative -- you included details and background I was completely unaware of -- but also very compelling.
What can we do to prevent more such raids and the hamstringing of justice?
Where are you going to publish it? I think it should get as wide an exposure as possible. (Perhaps you've also already sent it to the Postville-area congressman who was demanding an accounting of the total cost of the raid and its aftermath.) Would publications like the NYT or even the Des Moines Register consider using it to launch their own investigations and exposés?
Thank you so much for writing it, and for sharing it with us.
Best regards,
Prof. Reginald Killingley The University of Texas at Tyler Federally Certified Interpreter
*Reprinted by permission
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Date: Wed 18 Jun 23:37:55 EDT 2008* From: "Marcela"
It is excellent, and very sad... I think you are right-on capturing the way of thinking of most of the interpreters with whom I spoke... I found out what it was about on my way to Waterloo. It was a terrible downer, but at least I was prepared... And I thought the same as you: had I known beforehand, I wouldn’t have done it... But I felt I was already at the ballroom, so I had to dance...
Thank God I did not have to interpret for the women, because I don’t think I would have been able to control my emotions... I had a hard time with the poor men, but I think I would have identified a lot more with the women.
Well, enough, congratulations for the article. You write very well. Where will it be published?
Regards, Marcela A. Renna Federally Certified Interpreter
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:12:57 -0400* From: "L. Roberto Hernandez"
Hello Erik: In general, I liked the article. We all certainly felt the human pain reflected not only in the faces and emotions of detainees, but even in those of the lawyers, judges and others. And of course it pains the soul to see these people suffering the consequences of having entered the country illegally.
L. Roberto Hernández Federally Certified Interpreter
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Date: Thu 19 Jun 02:57:29 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Re: Fwd: My Postville article To: [email protected]
Erik, Wow! What a well researched and written article, with mastery and heart. It was a pleasure Reading it, and I hope you don’t mind if I save it, to read it many times more. It is worth saying it again: Wow!
Sharon Spence Federally Certified Interpreter
Date: Thu 19 Jun 10:42:20 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Re: My Postville article To:
Erik:
Thank you very much for sharing your article about the Iowa experience, and for expressing so clearly the ethical dilemmas that have besieged my mind since May 12. Where will it be published?
I hope your article is disseminated everywhere, and that the injustice of the process is investigated. I was left doubting whether the people who admitted the “crime” charged really understood what they were doing. My discomfort arises from the fact that many times I felt like one more spoke in a great wheel of injustice. Those people did not come without the help of many who enriched themselves at their expense, but those criminals are not behind bars.
Is it OK if I share your article with others? The other day I was chatting with a lawyer about my doubts regarding this whole process, and about the lawyer’s role in this whole thing. Would you give us permission to distribute it among some immigration attorneys?
Thanks again,
Graciela González Federally Certified Interpreter
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Date: Thu 19 Jun 19:08:33 EDT 2008* From: Susan Rascón
I worked with Central American refugees in Arizona during the 1980s and it was really hard for me to see too. But I too came to the conclusion that I'd rather be there... The immigration laws have turned so ugly in recent years that there is nothing to do for people, and now with these criminal laws with minimum sentences, they just have people over a barrel.
But everybody I've talked to agrees that it's a conflict to have 10 clients from the same case and such a short time to deal with everything. It sounds like other states are going to try to train and prepare for what to do in future cases.
If they hadn't been able to get federally-certified interpreters, they could have gone ahead with others. I agree we're all still debriefing, but it IS better we were there - just look at your essay!!!
Keep in touch and keep up the great work. Thanks again for speaking out about it. Best, Susan G. Rascón Associate Professor - Spanish Translation and Interpreting - UW-Milwaukee ATA-Certified Translator Federally Certified Interpreter
Date: Sat 21 Jun 22:50:05 EDT 2008* From: "Barb"
Thank you for the touching essay which you sent to my daughter, Susan Rascon and the other interpreters.
You have stated all the complications of the farce that was carried out "legally" and also conveyed the heart-wrenching consequences of the big-bully attitude that our beloved country employs under our current administration.
Susan worked for seven years as an attorney for the Central American Refugee Project representing many Guatemalans and knew this would be very difficult, but chose to do the first week to see the inside workings.
I hope you will send copies of your essay to your legislators and try to get it published as well. The truth does need to come out and people need to have their humanity touched and their outrage raised. Thank you again.
Sincerely, Barbara Giersbach
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Date: Fri 20 Jun 12:31:12 EDT 2008* From: "bety ziman"
Thank you so very much for this poignant article that expresses so clearly what I went through in Postville when I first arrived and realized what it was.
I called my son to tell him, and he said, "Mom, you better than most know how important it is to give these people a voice, they need you now."
Bety Ziman Federally Certified Interpreter
Date: Sat 21 Jun 15:52:01 EDT 2008* From: intospanish
Thank you so much, Erik. Your article is excellent. I also felt something similar to what you felt, and that prompted me to lend any humanitarian help I could (mostly calls to family members of detainees in Guatemala).
I also took notes and thought about writing an article. Where do you plan on publishing it? Would you mind if I share it with some friends who are interested in becoming informed and helping?
Thanks again, Max Stawsky Federally Certified Interpreter
Date: Sat 21 Jun 23:31:01 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Re: My Postville article To: [email protected]
This is a very courageous and informative article. I would first like to say that you all have my full support for publishing this. There are many horrendous acts taking place in the name of "combating illegal immigration," which I and others firmly believe is a distorted name for "persecuting displaced populations."
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The Iowa raid stood out as one of the most gut-wrenching. It is no accident that the majority of those deported were Mayan indigenous peoples. The New Bedford raid, which was the largest raid prior to Postville, also targeted Mayan indigenous people.
I was extremely moved by your courage to speak out.
Madeline Newman Ríos Ríos Translations Federally Certified Interpreter
Date: Sat 21 Jun 23:50:41 EDT 2008* From: "April Cedillo"
Dear Dr. Camayd,
This was an EXCELLENT article. Very well written, very interesting to read, very pertinent points, very sobering, great analysis, and I congratulate you for taking the time to do this labor of love for your profession.
Where will this article be published? I would highly encourage you to send it to lawmakers such as United States senators. This should also be sent to NGO's, legal rights and immigration law organizations.
Another place I think it should be sent to is the Government Accountability Office (GAO) www.GAO.gov They investigate things like this. Here is their statement:
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is known as "the investigative arm of Congress" and "the congressional watchdog." GAO supports the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and helps improve the performance and accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people.
Do I have your permission to share this with friends, family and colleagues?
Thank you for sharing this.
April Cedillo Court Certified Interpreter, Minnesota
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Date: Wed 25 Jun 00:09:13 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Essay about Postville To: [email protected] Mr. Camayd:
Thank you for your courageous and thoughtful work in preparing the essay about your experience as a translator for the victims of the Postville Raid.
My name is David Vasquez. I am a campus pastor at Luther College, just a half hour north of Postville.
I have been volunteering full time since the raid in Postville, and the work, despair, anger, and deep concern for what this approach to enforcement has and continues to mean will be long term in that community.
I will share your essay with others, and encourage you to share it with elected officials.
Rev. David Vasquez Luther College, Iowa
Date: Wed 25 Jun 08:42:11 EDT 2008* From: amalia anderson
I just finished reading your first person account of your time in Postville. It was sad. Not suprising, but sad. While I don't live in Postville, I work for a small, community-based nonprofit that works in rural communities in MN and IA. Over the course of the last two years we have lived and worked through 4 raids--some plant based; others residential. Each and every one has left us feeling frustrated, depleted, angered, but more educated. In each and every instance, we have, as you have, begun to get a handle on the real picture regarding immigration, detention and deportation--and what lengths our government is willing to go to.
With regard to Postville-- I would say that it has been particularly unjust and has called me and many of my fellow Guatemalans to action. I am a Guatemalan. In fact, Maya... born in Guatemala and displaced to the US due to the civil war. In addition to spending many hours in Postville working with families, we created a solidarity letter in the immediate aftermath of the raid. We have received hundreds of calls about the story of Postville and the indigenous peoples who are now detained.
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You may or may not know that many are Kakchiquel, Kiche and Mam--coming from Panajachel, Chimaltenango, Antigua, and Huehetenango. You are right, Spanish is not their first language, nor do they speak English at all. The irony of the Postville raid is overwhelming. An estimated 100+ indigenous Maya detained and held for deportation back to Guatemala--but the very government that planned and carried out a coup, toppled a democratically elected government, and then spent billions of dollars training Army officials in torture techniques, as well as supported land-combing campaigns throughout the highlands killing, disappearing and displacing millions! Many who I spoke with have no pueblo to return to, have no family left alive...
Last week I traveled to Chimaltenango, Guatemala for the International Indian Treaty Council annual conference. There we passed a resolution on Migration and Displacement--based on the experiences of Postville, and other raids involving Mayas. In addition, I was able to meet with Kakchiquel, Mam and Kiche community leaders. I told them of the raids, showed them pictures, and shared with them the names of people in detention. As suspected--they knew nothing of the raid. And, they recognized names on the list. It’s a start.
Thank you for your article!
In solidarity, amalia recinos anderson Project Director, Main Street Project www.mainstreetproject.org
Attachment:
Solidarity Statement Concerning Guatemalans in Detention after ICE Raid in Postville, Iowa
May 14, 2008
The following can be attributed to: amalia anderson, Carlos Ariel, Axel Fuentes, Reginaldo Haslett Marroquín, Ana Nájera Mendoza, and Pedro Sosa
"No one should be subjected to arbitrary arrests, detention or exile". Article 9, Universal Declaration of Human Rights
“Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.” Article 9, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
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As Guatemalans (by birth and by family origin) living in the United States we strongly condemn the Postville, Iowa raid--the largest single-site enforcement operation of its kind in the history of the United States. Of the 390 workers reportedly detained, nearly three hundred are from Guatemala.
According to statistics from the United Nations, over 125 million people throughout the world live and work outside their countries of origin. Human migration is a global phenomenon fueled by war, persecution, economic and social inequality, environmental disaster, and poverty. International migration will continue until the underlying causes forcing people from their homelands are eliminated.
As Guatemalans, we are too familiar with Human Rights violations and their lasting effects. During our country’s 36-year long civil war: 200,000 people were killed or disappeared and as many as 1.5 million people were displaced internally or forced to flee the country. U.S. funding and training underwrote the war – leaving the country in shambles and forcing many to leave. Those of us able to publicly sign this letter and our brothers and sisters sitting now in detention centers and unable to sign this letter, came to this country fleeing the effects of the U.S. funded, civil war. As over three hundred Guatemalans now sit in detention in Iowa, we ask you to grieve with us and protest the obvious irony.
According to the U.S. Constitution, all people residing in the United States, regardless of their immigration status, are entitled to due process of law. The United States is committed to principles of democracy and fairness, yet hundreds of people are detained--frequently without access to counsel and without contact from their families. Many are terrified at the possibility of being returned to a home they may no longer know, or where they will be unable to earn a living wage. In the case of Guatemala, we mustn’t forget the additional challenges of returning to a country devastated by decades of civil war. The U.S. policy of detaining and deporting people does not address these realities.
The recent Postville Raids raises questions about the continued role the United States government plays in the lives of Guatemalans. Unlike the war years, however, we now have the opportunity to ensure that core U.S. values of democracy and fairness prevail! On behalf of our brothers and sisters in detention—we call for transparent, fair and humane treatment in accordance with our U.S. constitutional norms of due process and equal protection. We believe that all human beings in this country have a right to be treated with dignity and respect, even in situations of detention and arrest. Though nothing can undo the destruction caused by the civil war in Guatemala, we are currently presented with an opportunity to stand up and not allow the legacy of our government’s past to continue in the present and the future. Fellow Guatemalans, join us!
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Date: Wed 25 Jun 17:43:18 EDT 2008* From: "David Thompson"
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas,
A good friend recently forwarded me a copy of your "Interpreting After the Largest ICE Raid in U. S. History: A Personal Account," and, having been involved in community efforts to assist families in Postville following the raid, I read it immediately.
I wish to express my appreciation for a piece wonderfully crafted, but especially my gratitude for devoting time and energy to shedding light on the distinctively heinous aspects (fast-tracking, avoiding habeas corpus, bypassing checks and balances) of the raid and the prosecutions.
The recent growth of ICE and its mandate's relationship to the war on terror should be drawing the attention of respectable media sources, so I hope that your article will contribute to a greater scrutiny of Homeland Security's disturbing and underhanded means of prosecuting innocent people.
I recently served as an interpreter for attorneys that came to Postville to interview families of detainees and those arrested but released conditionally, so I identified personally with your account of meeting with Guatemalans who were desperate to find meaning and a way back to their families in the aftermath of the raid.
Best regards,
David R. Thompson, Ph. D. Assistant Prof. of Spanish Department of Modern Languages and Literatures Luther College
Date: Wed 25 Jun 23:21:41 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Re: Postville To: [email protected]
Erik:
We have shared your concern for the families in Guatemala. There are many of the families here in Postville in very difficult situation, and so we have been consumed by trying to support them. I would be glad to give you an update on our efforts here locally over the phone. We have been in contact with a number of families in Guatemala to try to provide information. 10
Financially, we have only been able to help in a few cases, but have definitely recognized the need to make some kind of effort to support them long term. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources (in terms of people to coordinate the effort or money) to do that at this point. Any work you can do in terms of raising funds would be very appreciated.
Thank you for the list of detainees, although unfortunately the location is constantly changing. People are being moved for a variety of reasons--three jails were flooded so people had to be moved from there. Many people are being moved to federal prisons outside of the state to serve their prison term.
Today we sent a list of close to 100 people we cannot locate (they are not at the places where the Bureau of Prisons' website says they are or they are not yet entered into that website).
We are working with elected officials as well as trying to advocate with Immigration, the Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Marshall's, and others to try to create some kind of centralized point of information about inmate location--we have gotten nowhere, and in the meantime we seriously have 3 people each day making calls and trying to track where people are.
As you can imagine, this lack of accurate information has made communication with those detained VERY difficult (even when we know where they are, the cost of phone calls and the complexity of rules for visits, mailing, sending money, making phone calls--and the variety as each jail has its own procedures--has made this task extremely difficult).
Again, we welcome any support you are able to provide. We are distributing donations for the local effort by having them sent to:
St. Bridget's Hispanic Ministry P.O. Box 369 Postville, IA 52162
Donations can also be made through Lutheran Disaster Relief website (www.ldr.org). Go to "donate" and choose Postville from the pull down menu. We are in the process of setting up a way for people to donate through PayPal.
Thanks!
Rev. David Vasquez Campus Pastor Luther College Postville Relief Effort
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Date: Thu 26 Jun 09:31:46 EDT 2008* From: intospanish
It looks like we are not the only ones working on this. This was sent to me by a lawyer friend. I thought it would be of interest. Un abrazo,
Max Stawsky Federally Certified Interpreter
Begin forwarded message:
In your name ICE acts with the results that are described in the attached article. The article does not even mention the employer’s attempt to defeat an attempt to organize the plant on the grounds that the employees who were voting in the election were largely undocumented so they had no rights under U.S. law (or so said this employer) to vote for and participate in a union in the USA. The courts and the government rejected that argument but to no reasonable end as the workers involved were all largely deported as a result of this ICE raid perpetrated by that same government.
From: [email protected] Sent: Monday, June 09, 2008 5:41 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: Commentary on Postville Raid by Raquel Aldana http://bibdaily.com
New State-Level Research Debunks the Myth of Immigrant Criminality "The persistent myth that immigrants are more prone to criminality than the native-born continues to circulate among politicians, commentators, and the public despite a century’s worth of contrary evidence (see IPC’s Immigrants and Crime: Are They Connected?, December 2007). Recent data from New Jersey and California once again confirm what researchers have found repeatedly over the past 100 years: immigrants are less likely than the native-born to be in prison, and high rates of immigration are not associated with higher rates of crime." IPC, July 17, 2008.
On immigration, courts sully motto: Justice, independence, honor "If the court spokesperson, Craig N. Berke, was quoted accurately in Wednesday’s Journal article (Raids at 6 courthouses target illegal immigrants, by staff writers Karen Lee Ziner and Felice Freyer), then this raid was initiated by the judiciary. In early June, Berke is quoted as saying, the judiciary forwarded some “evidence” to ICE and the state police. Since then the court system has been working “on a daily basis” with those law enforcement agencies, presumably culminating in [Tuesday’s] raids. The collaboration in which the Rhode Island court system engaged in is only a more explicit version of courts’ continual willingness to work with law enforcement to target immigrants." César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, July 18, 2008.
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Society of American Law Teachers — SALT — and National Lawyers Guild — NLG — Joint Statement on ICE Immigration Raids and Criminal Immigration Enforcement
"SALT and NLG deplore these raids that are creating a moral, legal, and humanitarian crisis in our nation. ICE’s heavy handed enforcement against undocumented workers in the wake of failed immigration reform is shameful. Immigration laws remain completely out of touch with reality, and the absence of labor protection for these workers leaves them vulnerable to exploitation." June 6, 2008.
D. Jackson Chaney CHANEY & LANE Immigration Law Attorneys Irving, TX
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:04:19 -0500* From: "Benjamin Casper"
Read your Postville commentary. Thanks for doing that.
Benjamin Casper, Attorney at Law, P.A. West Saint Paul, MN
Date: Thu 26 Jun 22:37:49 EDT 2008* From: "Amy Gottlieb"
Dear Erik Camayd-Freixas,
I just received and read your personal account of your interpreting experience in Postville, Iowa, and wanted to thank you personally for your candor and for presenting so clearly what a devastating impact this raid and these criminal charges have had on those arrested, on their families, and on their communities.
I am an immigration lawyer and advocate, and rarely do we see such honesty and openness about a complex, closed, and so often unfair process.
With best regards,
Amy Gottlieb, Program Director American Friends Service Committee Immigrant Rights Program Newark, NJ www.afsc.org
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Date: Fri 27 Jun 00:19:44 EDT 2008* From: "Chris Hackman"
Erik, I work for the City of Postville (just a sewer worker), and have been desperately seeking out and reading everything I can get my hands on about what happened here. When that provided no answers and merely presented dozens more questions, I found myself trying to wrap my head around the immigration issue in general. Which of course lead to law, foreign policy... The nature of bureaucracy, power, and greed would all follow of course. A tangled web that I'll never fully understand, but I do believe I know wrong when I see it.
Thank you for writing your account. I'm probably no closer to anything resembling an answer that I can hang my hat on, but I'm starting to wonder if it's more about actively asking the questions at this point anyway. At least for me, you were exactly where you needed to be those days in Iowa.
I'm afraid I hold little hope that justice will ever help the friends and neighbors I watched tormented and taken away in May. Nor do I believe justice will ever place a penalty upon those who profit from what even an occasional atheist like myself would classify as sin.
At least, knowing there are others also asking the questions and working towards change gives me hope that future generations will look back upon these events with disbelief and shame.
Thanks again, Chris Hackman Postville, Iowa
Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:45:28 +0000 * From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Article about Postville, Iowa
It is a terrific article. It made me sick though! And, it is just one other instance how this administration has no respect for our constitution and our system of laws.
I would like this article reprinted and distributed to all the parishioners at St. John Neumann. As I mentioned, I teach a class called Just Faith. It's a 9 month long study of the Catholic Church's teaching on social justice. I'm going to forward this article to our group at SJN and to the lady who heads up the program at the Archdiocese. It is a very powerful testimonial. I sure hope it gets published far and wide. I think your husband should testify to Congress too.
I grew up in Grinnell, IA, about 50 miles east of Des Moines on I-80. As I mentioned, I'm going to Iowa to visit and also to Cedar Rapids. I might be able to go to Postville if you think I could do some good.
God Bless, Tom Comerford 14
Date: Fri 27 Jun 13:25:22 EDT 2008* From: PTMagee
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas:
As a worker on Hekhsher Tzedek, a campaign to improve working conditions and corporate responsibility at corporations that manufacture kosher food, I was horrified but not surprised by the story you told. I was particularly interested in the legal analysis, which I found extremely informative and authoritative.
My reaction to your discussion was that I've always felt that prosecutors were less objective than they ought to be, but I had never before felt that they would cold-bloodedly scheme to deprive a group of immigrant workers of their legal rights.
Thank you very much for sharing your essay.
With warm regards,
P.T. Magee Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Genetics University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN
Date: Fri 27 Jun 13:31:51 EDT 2008* From: "Erin Stalnaker"
Dear Erik,
I just finished reading your essay – thank you sincerely for writing and sharing your experience.
I went to Postville the weekend after the raid to deliver food and other donations collected in Minneapolis over the week and was shocked and saddened to speak with the women released with the GPS ankle bracelets who came to the church for donations.
From your perspective as an informed layperson – how can we ‘the people’ organize against ICE and its conflated use of statistics equating immigration detentions with terrorist apprehension, infiltration of the DOJ and the raids themselves?
Thank you and in solidarity,
Erin.
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Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:46:22 -0700 (PDT)* From: Duke 1676
I Just received an e-mail forward from NILC with your account of the aftermath of the raid in Postville Iowa. I would like to ask your permission to republish it at http://TheSanctuary.soapblox.net.
Your story of the migrants is an important one that has yet to be told in such detail
Duke Migra Matters - Progressive Immigration Reform http://migramatters.blogspot.com
Date: Sat 28 Jun 12:54:47 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: A Personal Account To: [email protected]
Dear Dr. Camayd,
I'm an interpreter and I work on advocacy issues dealing with language minorities.
I would like to commend you for a fantastic article. It brought tears of sadness. I know first-hand that what you depicted is all true. Thank you for sharing such critical information through your article. Our public and government entities need to be made aware of the serious impact these inhumane raids are having on Latino and other language minority communities.
I received calls and e-mails from politicians, attorneys, including interpreters requesting permission to send your article to other groups, bar associations, and members of the press. I want to know if this would be OK.
Many feel that your article should be distributed very far and wide.
Once more, thank you for not only the courage to write the article (speak up) but for a most wonderful, heartfelt, beautifully written and very persuasive article.
Sincerely,
Isabel Framer OR & TN State Court Certified Judiciary Interpreter Copley, Ohio http://languageaccess.us
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Date: Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:41:24 +0200* From: Ruth Morris
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas I have been forwarded an email copy of your essay about interpreting in the ICE proceedings :-( and would appreciate it if you could send me a copy as a Word attachment. It was a fascinating account of this ghastly set of proceedings. I both act as a "forwarding" station for items to do with court interpreting, and give a research seminar as part of an MA in translation/interpreting studies at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. I am sure both "audiences" would be fascinated to read the essay, with your permission, of course. With great appreciation for your thoughts as expressed in the essay,
Sincerely, Ruth Morris My academic web page: http://RuthMorris13.googlepages.com/home Interpreting in Israeli legal proceedings: http://ruthmorris13.googlepages.com/interpretinginisraelilegalproceedings
Date: Mon 30 Jun 07:20:43 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: A Personal Account To: [email protected]
Dear Erik,
Your story has stirred strong responses against the raids. Below my signature, I am copying some of the requests that came in from interpreter colleagues including links to two news articles referencing the raid in Iowa that were published on Friday.
One interpreter colleague's daughter is a reporter with Univision. She is currently in MX but when she comes back would like to interview you. Another federally certified colleague is a retired attorney located in New Mexico that indicated these raids are taking place all of the time in their state and would like to see your article published in the bar journal. Another interpreter is witting a book and would like to speak with you in order to include your story together with other interpreter stories.
When and if the time comes that you might need people to testify should you get a congressional hearing (long overdue), let me know and I will do everything in my power to help you obtain individuals willing to testify either in person or through letters.
Sincerely, Isabel Framer, Chair OR & TN State Court Certified Judiciary Interpreter
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Date: Mon 30 Jun 15:20:59 EDT 2008* From: "Bregendahl, Corene M [SOC A]"
Erik,
I received your essay on the Postville ICE raid by way of the American Friends Service Committee and the director of the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. It is moving at the very least and I will have to read it several more times to truly comprehend the depth of the issue.
Your account is important to work we are doing in the region addressing the health of vulnerable children.
Thank you,
Corry Bregendahl Assistant Scientist North Central Regional Center for Rural Development Ames, Iowa www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu
Date: Monday, June 30, 2008 12:46 PM* From: Flora, Cornelia B [SOC A] [mailto:[email protected]] To: Bregendahl,Corene M; Ann Mansfield; Ranum, Brenda M [CO NE] Subject: FW: Interpreter's Account of Postville
This can give us some insights on what went on in Postville and how we could best contribute to the healing.
Dr. Cornelia Butler Flora
Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Agriculture and Life Sciences Director, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development
Iowa State University Ames, IA www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu
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Date: Mon 30 Jun 22:25:17 EDT 2008 (updated 21 July)* From: Kristin M Sziarto
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas,
I have just read your account of the Postville raid and court proceedings thoroughly, and find it to be a good analysis of the problems in our immigration law and policy today. As a citizen, I am deeply concerned about the way the 'war on terror' has evolved into this treatment of immigrants. As a political geographer with research interests in immigration, I have followed the reorganization of INS into ICE, and am very concerned about the policy informing such raids, the extension of border control practices into the interior of the U.S. (and U.S. citizens also being detained and even deported), and the tendency to assume that "illegal immigrants" are responsible for more social problems than it is possible.
Lawmakers should consider the arguments made in this scholarly article: Coleman, Mathew. (2008). Between Public Policy and foreign Policy: U.S. Immigration Law Reform and the Undocumented Migrant. Urban Geography 29 (1): 4-28.
Erik, thank you for making what you witnessed at Postville public.
Dr. Kristin M. Sziarto Assistant Professor Department of Geography University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Date: Tue 1 Jul 18:24:37 EDT 2008 From: "D. Villanueva (De La Cruz), Brenda"
Dear Erik and David –
Erik, while I’m not sure you are aware that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is keeping a close eye on this issue, just wanted to extend my personal and most sincere thanks for putting this upfront account on paper. Your article has made it to the desks of several Congressional offices.
David, Susan Collin’s shared Erik’s article with us, thank you for all your help and for sharing this information.
Sincerely, Brenda D. Villanueva Office of Congressman Joe Baca Ca-43 | Legislative Assistant
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Date: Wed 2 Jul 11:28:06 EDT 2008* From: "Ann Naffier"
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas,
My name is Ann Naffier, and I am the Immigration Legal Services Director at American Friends Service Committee in Des Moines, Iowa.
We, along with many other community agencies in Iowa, have been deeply involved in Postville, but your essay is the most in-depth and enlightening piece I have read about the whole experience yet.
I am writing to ask you whether we could post your essay on our website (http://www.afsc.org/central/dsm.html), or distribute in on our immigrant rights listserves here in Iowa.
There is a lot to be learned from your report.
Ann Naffier American Friends Service Committee Des Moines, Iowa
Date: Wed 2 Jul 18:05:23 EDT 2008* From: "[email protected]"
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas:
I was sent a copy of your essay on the Iowa raids by Pastor David Vasquez. I work with New America Media and I was wondering if you would be interested in having it posted on our website so more folks might see it.
It is an incredibly jarring and important essay. Thank you for writing it. I read the parts about the link between the war on terror and the war on immigrants with much interest.
I still feel like there is a silver bullet out there: a directive or a white paper that justifies criminalizing and ramping up the campaign against immigrants, but I haven't found it yet.
Good luck and please keep me up to date on your work.
Wendy Feliz Sefsaf New America Media Washington DC www.newamericamedia.org
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Date: Thu 3 Jul 02:27:41 EDT 2008* From: Jorge L. Barón
Professor Camayd,
I work for a non-profit organization in Washington State and was recently forwarded a copy of your article about the Postville raid. I had to take a moment to let you know that I found it incredibly powerful, despite the fact that I have witnessed first-hand the impact of this type of raids.
It seems like your article is already circulating on the internet the way these things do. My initial reaction was to hit forward and continue the chain, but I thought it more appropriate to email you and find out if it would be okay to send it do a listserv like the Detention Watch Network listserv. Entirely up to you, but I’d love to see more people reading your article, as it is truly powerful.
Best wishes,
Jorge L. Barón Executive Director Northwest Immigrant Rights Project Seattle, WA 98104
Date: Thu 3 Jul 17:58:26 EDT 2008* From: "Pastor Stephen Brackett"
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas,
Since the May 12th raid in Postville I have not had the time to read more than a few lines of any news stories or accounts of the raid, but I took the time today to read all 14 pages of your essay on the raid in Postville. All I can say is thank you.
Those of us who have responded to the needs of those who were affected by the raid have heard about or suspected much of what you observed first hand. It is so helpful that you documented your experience. I am going to immediately forward your essay on to my Synod Office in Waverly, IA, with the hopes that it will be passed on to our Churchwide Office in Chicago.
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When people ask why our immigration system is so broken I keep saying "Follow the money." We benefit and companies benefit from the cheap wages paid to illegal immigrants. And your argument that ICE needs to justify its reason to exist and have such an ever increasing budget is something else I have been saying -- because this method of enforcing immigration law is certainly NOT the easiest, safest, and most cost effective method we could be using.
Once again you have my thanks for putting your experience into such eloquent and significant words.
Pastor Steve Brackett St. Paul Lutheran Church 116 E. Military Road Postville, IA 52162 563-864-7643
Date: Thu 3 Jul 21:20:35 EDT 2008* From: "Jonathan Moore"
Thanks for it.
Jonathan Moore Washington Defender Association's Immigration Project Seattle, WA
Date: Fri 4 Jul 08:30:09 EDT 2008* From: "INB Sources"
Dear Erik,
Thanks so much for writing this great essay.
I'm editor of Immigration News Briefs and co-author of The Politics of Immigration: Questions and Answers (Monthly Review Press, 2007).
Jane Guskin
------Forwarded message ------Date: Thu, Jul 3, 2008 at 6:58 PM Subject: Immigration Reform Cowards in Postville; Immigration Raids Lead U.S. to a Moral, Legal Crisis; Interpreting after the Largest ICE Raid in US History.
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To: Local/National/Global
Cc: Governor Bill Richardson
Sent: Saturday, June 28, 2008 11:32 AM Subject: Interpreting after the Largest ICE Raid in US History
Dear colleagues,
I wanted to make sure to share an article that brought tears of sadness.
Because of the field we work in (interpreters), some of us have first-hand knowledge of many of the issues including the feelings depicted in the article. The situations depicted are real and not exaggerated or made up. I know this first-hand. This has to change. It is appalling that undocumented individuals are treated worse than anyone would treat a dog.
Date: Fri 4 Jul 15:17:49 EDT 2008* From: "David K Link"
Professor Camayd:
You may already be aware by now that your personal account as an interpreter in Postville, "Interpreting afater the Largest ICE Raid in US History," has been posted on an immigration lawyer's message board.
I believe it is critically important that this account -- especially coming from a neutral observer of your stature -- be made publically available, or at least be circulated among those of us trying to prepare for the next raid.
Is there a link to it that I could post? Or, do you have any objection to my sharing parts or all of it with advocates here in Kansas?
Thank you so much for writing it.
I practice immigration law in Wichita, Kansas, and have been participating in an ad hoc group community activist organizations, Hispanic advocacy groups, federal public defenders and immigration lawyers that is attempting to put in place a response plan to a large-scale workplace ICE raid.
Southwest Kansas thrives on cattle, meat-processors, and Hispanic labor. We think it is a prime target for a big ICE raid along the lines of Postville.
Your essay is just too important and meaningful to remain embargoed for long!
David Link GRAGERT HIEBERT GRAY & LINK Attorneys at Law Adjunct Professor, Immigration Law, KU School of Law Wichita, KS
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Date: Fri 4 Jul 15:28:09 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: coming to Luther College To: [email protected] Erik:
As you know, as someone involved "on the ground" here in Postville, I have been greatly appreciative of the way your essay about the processing of individuals in Postville articulated some of the key concerns with this action and its larger consequences--well beyond a small Iowa town and immigration.
I have shared your article with a large number of people, but have refrained from doing so with the press as you asked. Please let me know when you would be OK with a wider distribution of it.
I am a campus pastor at a college just about a half hour from Postville. Our school has had a long standing connection to people in Postville, through learning, cultural, and service opportunities. As we begin to plan for students to return in the fall, we are very interested in engaging the student body, faculty, and staff in a larger conversation about the importance of this event happening right in our backyard.
The director for our Center for Ethics and Public Life asked me to check with you about your openness to come to campus for a presentation sometime this fall. Most likely, we will having some kind of a series or panel that will involve various voices--from those directly affected, to those serving in the response, and various perspectives on the larger issues at stake.
Thank you. Rev. David Vasquez
Date: Fri 4 Jul 15:59:56 EDT 2008* From:
Dr. Camayd,
I read your article about the process in Iowa and I was shocked.
I’d like to ask your permission to send it to the professors and students at the universities in Russia where I studied and worked (Herzen State Pedagogical University and San Petersburg State University).
I think it is important for people outside the US to know about cases like this.
Thanks in advance, Svetlana
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Date: Fri 4 Jul 20:02:02 EDT 2008* From: Ronald Garcia
Happy 4th... Profe,
Thanks for the sad and informative account of yet another gross example of abuse of authority led by our present government. I hope your essay is read by many and that as a consequence people start taking action.
How is it possible that the DHS and the present US Executive Branch managed to violate human rights laws and the laws of the land without any or significant sanctions, especially nowadays when information is so easily accessible? Or what is worst: How is it possible that they are able to continue such abuse?
Again, I thank you for sharing with us such valuable account.
Regards, Gael Guzmán-Medrano
PS. If anyone is interested in finding out more about the inhumane treatment of the US immigration authorities towards illegal workers, and their exploitation by those who benefit from them (both during the pre and post 9/11 era) please pick up a copy of Hector Tobar’s Translation Nation, coincidently, by a Guatemalan-American journalist/writer.
Date: Mon 7 Jul 15:51:44 EDT 2008* From: "Marcos Popovich"
Thank you for returning my call and for your assistance with our research. I was unable to locate the search warrant on The Des Moines Register. The articles from May are archived and it is difficult to tell which one contains the search warrant. Please e-mail me a copy of the search warrant when you have the opportunity. Thank you for assistance.
Could you also include MALDEF staff-members in future correspondence regarding the Congressional hearings and Postville related matters? Thank you.
Sincerely, Marcos Popovich Intern, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund
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Date: Mon 7 Jul 16:49:30 EDT 2008* From: Omaira Hernández
Your account is really shocking. I am currently working with professors from the border region and I would very much like to share your essay with my colleagues and students. I would very much appreciate if you have a version in Spanish; or else, permission to translate it. It would also be possible to publish it in the journal of the Center for Border Research, called Línea Imaginaria. Please let me know.
Regards,
Prof. Omaira Hernández Universidad Simón Bolívar Caracas, Venezuela
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 10:56 PM Subject: Essay on Postville - Release
Dear friends and colleagues,
Many of you have asked me for permission to post my essay on various relevant websites and blogs. I am writing to grant that permission and release the essay for posting.
I take this opportunity to thank you for your invaluable support and conscientiousness. Thanks to you, who have passed it along to your own friends and colleagues, in a matter of two weeks, the essay has circulated among interested parties throughout the country and has now made it to Congress.
I have been asked to testify before Congress later this month. Perhaps something good will come out of these sad events.
Finally, my new friends from Postville involved in the relief effort inform me that they are still dealing with a very tough humanitarian crisis. So, please, if you have any opportunity for fundraising, this is the address where donations can be sent:
St. Bridget's Hispanic Ministry Fund c/o Sister Mary McCauley PO Box 369 Postville, Iowa 52162
Again, my heartfelt thanks.
Erik
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Date: Wed 9 Jul 01:18:22 EDT 2008* From: Duke 1676
Erik,
Thanks so much for releasing this. It's one of the most important stories yet to document the abuses going on.
Thanks,
Duke Migra Matters - Progressive Immigration Reform http://migramatters.blogspot.com
Date: Tue 8 Jul 23:45:20 EDT 2008* From: "L. Roberto Hernandez"
Erik:
Here in Northern Kentucky, where I live, we are starting to see the first few cases of individuals charged under the same statutes as those in Postville. I'm sure some attorneys around here would very much want to read your article.
Regards, L. Roberto Hernández Federally Certified Interpreter
Date: Wed 9 Jul 01:35:46 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Fwd: Essay on Postville - Release
This article was written by one of the interpreters for the Postville case. He has been very courageous in denouncing what he witnessed and was forced to participate in. We ask for people to distribute this as widely as possible. Donations are still needed through Sister Mary.
Madeline Newman Ríos Ríos Translations Federally Certified Interpreter
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Date: Wed 9 Jul 05:03:49 EDT 2008* From: Kyle de Beausset
Dear Erik Camayd-Freixas,
I just wanted to thank you for your account of Postville.
Sincerely,
Kyle de Beausset
Date: Wed 9 Jul 10:50:06 EDT 2008* From: "Rekha Sharma-Crawford"
Sir:
I have just had the pleasure of reading your article on the Iowa raid. I have a conference I will be attending next week, and I would like to share this with those in attendance. I would like your permission to distribute this among the attendees. Thank you in advance.
Sharma-Crawford Attorneys at Law Overland Park, KS
Date: Wed 9 Jul 12:23:53 EDT 2008* From: "David Thompson"
Dear Erik,
A thousand thanks for your efforts to expose the unjust treatment of the Postville immigrant community. We will indeed be hoping and praying that those in power will listen to your testimony and decide to make changes to unjust processes.
David R. Thompson, Ph. D. Assistant Prof. of Spanish Department of Modern Languages and Literatures Luther College
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Date: Wed 9 Jul 14:27:31 EDT 2008* From: "Pastor Stephen Brackett"
Dear Erik, Your essay verified several things that I assumed were going on in the aftermath of the ICE raid. We have high hopes that national coverage on your story and others might finally put enough pressure on politicians to fix the broken immigration system.
Thank you for all of your concern for families affected by the raid, and for your efforts to get your home congregation to support the work we are doing through St. Bridget's Hispanic Ministry.
Thank you again for telling your story and for supporting our efforts in Postville.
One more thing... One of our local pastors (Jim Klosterboer of Elkader, Iowa) has put together a blog about what is happening in Postville. He has posted several news stories and bits of information. I am planning to post your essay there as well. Here is the link: "Letters and Papers from Postville."
Pastor Steve Brackett St. Paul Lutheran Church Postville, IA
Date: Wed 9 Jul 14:55:38 EDT 2008* From: Debbie Smith
Dear Dr. Camayd:
I am a member of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and received a copy of your essay on the Postville prosecutions on the NIP listserv today. I am grateful for the time you took to write your observations and thoughts about that process. I cannot tell you how moved I was by your eloquent piece. Thank you.
I work with the criminal defense bar to educate them about immigration consequences of crimes. Your report of what occurred at Waterloo is a helpful, if discouraging, confirmation of what I see happen on a smaller scale in Montana. Thank you again for preparing and sharing your essay.
Sincerely yours,
Deborah S. Smith Reynolds, Motl and Sherwood, PLLP Adjunct Professor, The University of Montana School of Law Helena, MT 29
Date: Wed 9 Jul 15:28:58 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Thank you To: [email protected]
Erik,
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and insights with us through your excellent essay. I have forwarded your mail to our Iowa Justice For Our Neighbors Committee and our volunteers. Many are responding with gratitude.
Blessings,
Doris Knight Des Moines IA
Date: Thu 10 Jul 15:16:30 EDT 2008* From: "Sara Smith"
Erik,
I apologize that I have not gotten back to you sooner, as a result of the flooding in Cedar Rapids.
I was struck with how you were able to so accurately capture in words the emotions that so many of us experienced during this ordeal. I so very much appreciate the assistance and the camaraderie that both you and Adriana provided me during that time. I appreciate the very professional manner in which you both executed your jobs. It certainly was not an easy job.
I wish to again express my extreme gratitude for all that you did to help me during your time here in Iowa.
I do want to express to you that I feel it has taken a lot of courage on your part to speak out in the way that you have. I also feel that it is very important for these men and women's stories to be heard. I also believe that the men we worked with would not object and would, in fact, be honored that you cared enough to advocate for them. I applaud your courage.
Sincerely,
Sara L. Smith Court-Appointed Attorney
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Date: Thu 10 Jul 17:15:02 EDT 2008* From: "Jackson Chaney"
Erik:
I posted this today on AILA Message Center: ______
Compassionate conservatism in action: http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=b3562e 0069bc618cd178f 8fb06c8473c
Editor's Note: In the aftermath of ICE raids the world has turned upside down for hundreds of Postville youth who once led normal lives - attending church and school, playing sports and starting garage bands.
Marcelo Balve is a New York based writer for New America Media.
"I don't know if we can really comprehend how this has affected the children," says Sister Mary McCauley of St. Bridget's Church. "I'm wondering what the long term effect of this is going to be. It has really shattered family life."
Some young people didn't lose their parents, but their jobs. At least 17 underage workers, ranging in ages from 14 to 17, were arrested the day of the raid, according to attorney Sonia Parras Konrad.
Three of them are presently in custody of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement - in Chicago, San Diego and New York City - because the children claimed they were in the country as unaccompanied minors.
Parras says in two of these cases this wasn't true: the children lied simply out of fear of putting their parents in harm's way. She is now working to have both released.
Another minor already has been deported to Guatemala. ...
Two brothers were left without their wives in the raid's aftermath.
The women, fearing their children and husbands would be apprehended if they admitted to having them, lied to immigration agents after the raid and said their husbands and children were in Mexico. So instead of being released with ankle bracelets to look after their children, they were taken to prison.
Their husbands were left to care for seven children between them. _____
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This goes on in all the raids, but the part about children in resettlement for denying they had parents - lying to protect their parents - is a new one on me. That's hard to take.
All of this for "rule of law" concerns. All of this to "protect" U.S. workers. All of this for "enforcement-first." All of this to make a political point.
All of this for nothing.
Due process is one thing. Morality and common decency are even more basic and important.
Children who came here with their parents as EWIs; underage children who were working in violation of labor laws to help their families; underage children who were provided false docs by the employer; underage children who are now in resettlement separated from the parents they were trying to protect.
Thanks again for everything.
D. Jackson Chaney CHANEY & LANE Irving, TX
Date: Thu 10 Jul 20:55:00 EDT 2008* From: Debbie Smith
Children lying to protect their parents and other siblings from arrest and deportation is a thoroughly damning indictment of the way we force these migrants to live. Children working in slaughterhouses and getting deported, instead of receiving educations.
Postville was unprecedented in the scale of criminal prosecutions against the unauthorized workers. But we've had many large-scale immigration raids over the last couple of years resulting in fast-track removal of literally thousands of hard-working immigrants who have absolutely no criminal history. Families are ripped apart, schools are emptied, and communities become ghost towns.
Deborah S. Smith Reynolds, Motl and Sherwood, PLLP Adjunct Professor, The University of Montana School of Law Helena, MT
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Date: Thu 10 Jul 22:12:31 EDT 2008* From: Nancy Kuznetsov
Thank you for taking the time to write about this. So few people have any idea of the horror that families endure at the hands of ICE/DHS. I cried when I read it. My heart is with these people, I lived in Central America for many years and the Indians of South America are sweet, humble family oriented and hard working.
My husband was deported in December 2006. I am a US Citizen, Veteran and have kids on active duty in the military. Suffice to say when ICE came knocking I felt very disappointed in my government. Now my husband is barred from returning to the US for 10 years.
They railroaded these poor people while looking the other way at plant managers and employees who really are to blame for this tragedy.
I guess none of them have read our constitution. Wasn't it Jefferson who talked about our first inalienable right? These human beings have a right to self sustain. These US Citizen spouses and children have a right to family unity.
Our government is way off in the weeds. Did it ever cross your mind that it’s easier to raid a plant and find working peaceful people than actually go after the thousands of criminal aliens loose in the country?
Hopefully the arch of the moral universe points towards justice and one day these people will be vindicated and the government punished for this travesty and abuse of power.
Nancy Kuznetsov
Date: Thu 10 Jul 23:41:24 EDT 2008* From: "Nataly Kelly"
Thank you for writing your essay. I was quoted in the New York Times article. The quote was a very tiny piece of what I shared. I am a proponent of interpreters' views being shared so long as this is done with the appropriate caveats of protecting confidentiality and abiding by ethical standards. That is, after all, the entire point of the book I am editing, that gives interpreters a forum for doing this. I was not criticizing you with my comments. I regret any appearance to the contrary.
Kindest regards, Nataly Kelly
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 01:43:07 EDT 2008* From: jturcany
Dear Professor Camayd-Freixas,
As a native-born American translator living in Spain, I just wanted to thank you for taking a stand against injustice in America. I've been over here for many years, and have become increasingly concerned by the gradual decline in the American legal system on many fronts.
It is individuals like you who help preserve good practices in the American legal system and help to guard against abuses that unfortunately seem to be more and more frequent nowadays.
I read about your essay in the NY Times, and felt the need to show my support for your actions. I see no professional conflict of interest in seeking to preserve the integrity of the justice system, and from what I gathered in the article this was clearly your intention.
Thank you,
John Turcany
Date: Fri 11 Jul 06:38:39 EDT 2008* From: Elizabeth
Mr. Camayd-Freixas:
I just read the NY Times article. I would like to thank you on behalf of someone who just simply cares and has no direct relation to immigration issues. If only more people would see that bravery and honesty is the path to true change.
I'm broken hearted that the 262 illegal immigrants were sent to jail. Why was deportation not an option? What about their families, in the meantime?
I'm glad you spoke out.
Thank you, Elizabeth (Lizzi) Sexton KC MEDIA WATCHDOGS, intern 90.1 FM KKFI, every Monday at 9:30 am www.kkfinews.blogspot.com www.kkfi.org
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 08:32:15 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: The Iowa Case To: [email protected]
Dear Mr. Camayd-Freixas,
I recently saw your article in the New York Times and was deeply impressed. I have a strong interest in immigration law and plan on studying for my law degree when I finish my undergraduate at Barnard College.
Thank you for your daily work to grant a voice to immigrants. Thank you especially for bringing this contentious issue to the forefront.
People like you, who refuse to maintain professional silence when it conflicts with reason, are what help this country refashion itself in better alignment with its ideals.
Sincerely,
Emma Dorsey
Date: Fri 11 Jul 09:05:43 EDT 2008* From: DinniGordo
I am planning a new course for the doctoral program I teach in at the City University of New York, tentatively entitled, "Immigration, Crime and Criminal Justice." I would very much like to use your essay in my class. Your work would be a valuable addition.
Thank you so much.
Dr. Diana R. Gordon
Professor Emerita, Political Science, and Senior Research Scholar Ph.D. Program in Criminal Justice City University of New York
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 09:05:56 EDT 2008* From: "Jessica Cogen"
Dear Professor Camayd-Freixas,
I want to thank you for speaking up for those arrested at the meatpacking plant. I live in Arlington, Virginia outside D.C. where our neighboring Prince William County has been acting shamefully to immigrants as you've undoubtedly read in the news.
I have read about the meatpacking story in the NY Times with dismay and I was happy today to read about you speaking up. Were those in Germany who were quiet during the Nazi actions justified for their silence because of some professional etiquette? I think not.
Best wishes,
Jessica Cogen
Date: Fri 11 Jul 09:43:24 EDT 2008* From: "Snell, Theron P"
Professor:
My wife and I lived for three years in COLOMBIA and know first-hand some of the issues faced when working in another country and within another culture.
I am horrified at the language through which much of the so-called debate about migrant/immigrant rights is carried out. I fear the fascist nature of the dialogue...and the nature of the ICE raids.
Thank you in advance for your time and effort.
Theron P. Snell, Ph.D. The Advising Center University of Wisconsin-Parkside
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 09:43:38 EDT 2008* From: "Maritza Rodriguez"
Prof. Camayd-Freixas
You've done something extremely courageous and I admire you for that and think that as a public servant, it is the highest calling we have, to work to help fight injustice.
Thank you for your article. It is an inspiration. I am a first year law student at Rutgers University Law School in Newark, NJ and articles like this only encourage me more to follow my calling and practice immigration law.
Maritza Rodriguez
Date: Fri 11 Jul 09:46:54 EDT 2008* From: "Elizabeth Babcock"
I simply wanted to write to thank you for speaking up for fairness and equality in our legal system.
As an undergraduate at the University of Florida, I worked with and advocated on behalf of farm workers, many of whom are illegal. Most have little to no formal education and are taken advantage of by both American employers and human traffickers.
I continue to follow this issue, being greatly influenced by my own grandmother's story or her illegal immigration from Ireland in the 1920s. Given the difficult circumstances of illegal immigrants’ lives, the least we should do in our democracy is to give them a fair trial.
I do hope your essay will provoke some soul searching on our part, in this country, to deal both with the issue of illegal immigration and the continual improvement of our legal system.
Thank you again for speaking out. It is rare to find principled leadership anywhere these days.
Best wishes, Elizabeth Babcock
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 09:54:00 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Thank You To: [email protected] Dear Professor, Thank you for your brave stand on the situation of persons being criminalized, and deported. You have been very courageous to step forward and inform the people of the United States about the criminalization of people who are not criminals. Thank you. Patricia Reilly Schairer Wrentham, Ma
Date: Fri 11 Jul 10:04:18 EDT 2008* From: "Weiss, Dana"
Hello Erik,
My name is Dana Weiss. I am a translator/interpreter living in Chicago and a member of the American Translators Association. I read the NY Times article about you with interest this morning and would simply like to extend my show of support for your actions. I think that most interpreters have been in similarly awkward positions at least once in our careers and have not spoken out. The fact that you have speaks to your character. I think you are a man of courage and valor, which are sorely lacking these days. To me, you are a hero, no less.
I wish you all the best,
Dana Weiss FACIT Multilingual Translations Project Center on Outcomes, Research and Education (CORE) Evanston, IL www.facit.org
Date: Fri 11 Jul 10:07:19 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Fwd: An Interpreter Speaking Up for Migrants To: [email protected]
That was brilliant. Thank you for your courage.
Sincerely, Anna Shockley
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 10:50:33 EDT 2008* From: "Weiherer, Aracely (EOIR)"
Good morning Dr. Camayd,
I am an interpreter working for the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), and I was quite impressed by the article you wrote.
I was wondering if I can have your permission to send it to all EOIR interpreters?
Thank you
Aracely Weiherer
Date: Fri 11 Jul 10:53:43 EDT 2008* From: John Sevigny
As a reporter on the Texas border I covered federal courts for two years and saw these sorts of cases daily. You are a man of conscience and I congratulate you for your ethics and morality.
Miami native John Sevigny www.gonecity.blogspot.com
Date: Fri 11 Jul 10:56:17 EDT 2008* From: Ronald Bellanton
I was browsing the New York Times and I saw your article. It was quite impressive and I love when someone stands for what is right. Keep it up!
Sincerely, Ronald Bellanton--FIU alumni
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 11:03:04 EDT 2008* From: "edwin pacheco"
Here in Texas, the majority of immigration agents, border patrol, detention and deportation etc, are second and third generation Mexican American. I have found these to be the most insensitive and abusive, more so than whites or blacks. I have heard agents purposely mistranslate statements of unwitting immigrants, much to their detriment.
Again, Congratulations, and I hope, although not optimistically, that this will change something.
Ed Pacheco
Date: Fri 11 Jul 11:15:39 EDT 2008* From: "stephen boatright"
Dear Professor Camayd-Freixas,
I just read about the essay you wrote in response to the way the cases of the workers for Agriprocessors were treated, and I would like to express my support for your decision. It must have been a difficult choice to make. Thank you. Sincerely,
Stephen Boatright
Date: Fri 11 Jul 11:56:15 EDT 2008* From: "E. Tammy Kim"
Dear Professor Camayd-Freixas:
I was pleased to read the New York Times article on the work and activism you’ve done in the arena of interpretation. As a legal services attorney serving immigrant workers, and as the daughter of a former court interpreter, I am very interested in your view of these matters.
Thank you. Sincerely,
E. Tammy Kim, Esq. New York, NY 10038
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 12:10:54 EDT 2008* From: Alejandra Amestoy
I just read today´s article on you in the NY Times and saw your Interview through Internet. I would like to express to you my admiration for your compassion, the way you stood up for those inmigrants and managed it all in such a professional manner. I am very proud to be one of your students.
Matilde Alejandra Pérez, Student, Translation & Interpretation Program
Date: Fri 11 Jul 12:23:34 EDT 2008* From: "David Morgan"
From what I've read in news accounts I applaud your courage and effort to explain the injustices in the judicial proceedings related to the Postville, IA raid during the current hysteria over changes in American demographics and economics.
I am a native of Iowa, and now live and work in a small community very near the Arizona / Mexico border. Best Regards,
David M Morgan Investigator, Writer, Publisher Sierra Vista, AZ
Date: Fri 11 Jul 13:04:26 EDT 2008* From: "Capps, Randy"
I am a researcher at the Urban Institute in Washington. We were in Postville this week interviewing families and others about the impact of the raid there on children. Several people showed me your excellent and courageous document, and of course it made the NYT front page today.
I think it would be invaluable to distribute it at the National Council of La Raza conference which is THIS SUNDAY in San Diego. .I am taking a copy with me. Let me know if that would be o.k. with you. Best regards,
Randy Capps
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 13:09:13 EDT 2008* From: An interpreter Subject: Thank you To: [email protected] Dear Dr. Camayd,
I want to thank you for your thoughtful interview I saw today in the NY Times, and also for the incredibly thoughtful and detailed essay that you wrote.
I have seen many sad cases in my 7 years as an interpreter. I can still see one lady's face in my mind, crying for her baby, who saw her leave for work one morning and did not see her again because she was handed directly over to immigration from the US Marshals' custody, and then deported after an unsuccessful asylum hearing.
I can still see her face and feel her pain, and like you, I never want to see such things happen again.
Thank you for speaking out for people who have no voice, including those of us interpreters who are silenced by the obligations of our employment, and taking the great risk that you did.
From my perspective you violated no interpreter's oath, but rather you acted out of the obligations of conscience, which include and go beyond any oath we take as interpreters. We are all human beings first, interpreters second.
Every person in this country should read and heed this essay.
Date: Fri 11 Jul 13:41:41 EDT 2008* From: John Fritzlen
Dear Professor Camayd-Freixas, Thank you for speaking out on the situation that occurred in Iowa. Your remarks showed not only heart but clarity and intelligence.
Like you, I do not want legislation that was put in place to counter terrorism to be used as a tool in an immigration system that is already a failure.
It took courage to step forward, and I hope you know that many, many people appreciate the voice you gave to these voiceless people.
Sincerely, John Fritzlen
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 13:55:30 EDT 2008* From: "Elaine Harvey"
As a colleague (court interpreter, Maricopa County Superior Court, Phoenix) I salute you and thank you for speaking out.
The campesinos in shackles and chains, I also stand next to them every day and feel deep shame over their treatment. I have been cowed into silence by our so called professional ethics and the need to keep my job, so it was incredibly gratifying to see you on the front page of the New York Times, speaking out about this evil, sickening, outrageous persecution.
I watched the video of you saying, "The right to speech trumps everything else," but you know there is a price for speaking against power-- you must know perfectly well, to have been a court interpreter for 23 years, and survive in academia-- and despite that, you put yourself on the line. That was courageous.
It's all a farce this thing of demanding documents from every brown person (and then arresting them either way, for having them or not having them) --makes me think of the Nazis. It is seriously wrong.
Elaine Harvey Tempe, AZ
Date: Fri 11 Jul 14:09:22 EDT 2008* From: "Sara Smith"
Dear Erik, I think if anyone who cared, obtained a transcript of the first sentencing hearing that I handled, they would see that both I and the Judge were clearly taking pains to express, without actually saying the words, our displeasure with the situation we found ourselves in. I believe I made it quite clear that I was supporting the guilty pleas of my clients because I knew they just wanted to go home as quickly as possible and that I respected that desire. Hopefully the committee of Congress that has requested your input will be listening to defense attorneys as well as the US attorneys. Tieg is clearly trying to lessen the implication that these defendants were essentially left with no choice but to plead guilty. Again, I applaud your efforts. Well Done!!
I am very appreciative that I was able to work with both you and Adriana. Good luck with Congress!!
Sara L. Smith Court-Appointed Attorney 43
From: [email protected] Sent: Thu 7/10/2008 3:12 PM* To: Sara Smith Subject: RE: Essay on Postville - Release
Dear Sara,
I wrote this essay initially because I needed so badly to debrief and decompress. I sent it to my other 25 colleagues, the Iowa interpreters. They were very appreciative and supportive and asked me if they could forward it to friends and family, etc. Then it took a life of its own. In a matter of two weeks it had been around the country and made it to Congress.
I can't tell you how much I wish Postville had never happened. But it did, so now we have to deal with it. The public's right to know what happened from an impartial layperson to me outweighed all other considerations. I have to say that I was and still am profoundly disturbed by what I saw and learned.
Anyway, the matter will now be out for public discussion, which is as it should be in a democracy. I don't take democracy for granted.
Let me say that your compassion, frustration, and work ethic are probably what most gave me the courage to bring these events out for public scrutiny.
It was an honor working with you, meeting you, and watching you work. Keep it up.
Erik
Date: Fri 11 Jul 14:17:28 EDT 2008* From: Patricia Morgan
I am writing to thank you for the stand you have taken on behalf of the illegal immigrants from Guatemala. In face, I have called Representative Zoe Lofgren's to urge her to look carefully into this matter.
I'm just a little old lady who has no particular ax to grind when it comes to immigration, but I think the way these people were treated is outrageously unfair.
Thank you again for your courage.
Patricia Morgan Novato, CA
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 14:38:24 EDT 2008* From: "Martin Kaminer"
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas,
I'm involved with the group that organized the boycott of Agriprocessors. It seems there's plenty of blame to go around; as you may know the PR firm defending the meat packers has been making threats against those who are organizing to ensure justice at the plant.
In any case, I am sure your inbox has been flooded with well-wishers.
In this age where heroes are so rare, please know that your actions are deeply inspiring to all.
Regards, Martin Kaminer
Date: Fri 11 Jul 14:39:57 EDT 2008* From: Christi Brookes
I'd like to commend you for speaking out on this issue. I am a professor of French in Michigan, and know how much your own job probably requires of you. To be committed to speak up and out so eloquently about issues that go beyond the university is something I admire.
I am currently in Arizona this summer, in part to volunteer for various organizations associated with migrant rights/border issues. It's nice to know that there are fellow travelers out there with me.
Again, thank you for taking the time and finding the courage and words to draw attention to this "broken policy."
Best wishes,
Dr. Christi Brookes Assistant Professor of French Central Michigan University
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 14:47:37 EDT 2008* From: DinniGordo
Thanks so much. You may be interested to know that so far today three people (two lawyers, one organizer) who work in New York on immigrants' rights issues, have sent me the New York Times story.
Your work is clearly inspiring people.
Dr. Diana R. Gordon
Professor Emerita, Political Science, and Senior Research Scholar Ph.D. Program in Criminal Justice City University of New York
Date: Fri 11 Jul 15:19:26 EDT 2008* From: San Francisco Subject: Interpreters’ comments of support To: "Erik Camayd"
Here are some support comments that have been circulating among the interpreters of the NCTA:
“There is a front-page article in today's New York Times, on a federal court interpreter who has denounced the railroading of undocumented immigrant workers from Guatemala. As many of you may recall, they were 400 victims of the largest immigration raid in recent history at a packing house in Iowa, held literally in cattle yards, and summarily convicted of unprecedented federal criminal charges in mass kangaroo trials.”
“I think Mr. Erik Camayd-Freixas, the interpreter, is a hero and an example for all of us, that as Isabel Framer says in the article, ‘Interpreters, don't check their ethical standards at the door.’”
“I hope the NCTA will broadly circulate the story, and I propose we send Mr. Camayd-Freixas a message of support, as he may face retaliation.”
“Thank you for the article. It shows that you can be a translator/interpreter and still take sides in the world. You don't have to abolish your conscience. No other job requires you to do it.”
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------Forwarded Message: ------From: robert stephens
Erik is a true hero. So many are in need of someone to speak out for them when they are unable to do so.
When Samuel Stephens was processed in Ellis Island in 1831 at the age of 12, having left his parents behind in Cornwall, England, all he had was opportunity. He soon found work in a steel mill in Birmingham. Every immigrant in this country deserves the same opportunity, regardless of where they come from or how they get here.
I am hoping that Erik's work, and subsequent testimony, will lead to a more humane immigration policy. Please thank him for me.
Robert
Date: Fri 11 Jul 16:08:08 EDT 2008* From: luz lopez
Bravo, Dr. Camayd. You have hit the nail on the head.
This is the weight many interpreters carry on our shoulders almost every day.
I hope this will open the first window to the world about the important role we as interpreters play in the justice system.
What a courageous citizen you are.
Thank you,
Luz Angela Lopez Interpreter Broward County Court
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Date: Thu 17 Jul 22:15:31 EDT 2008* From: "Andrew Driggs"
Professor, you have probably received a million e-mails and I hesitate to burden you with another, but I wanted to express my admiration and gratitude for your brave and insightful essay.
In these frightening days when certain governmental actors are behaving in incomprehensible ways which do not reflect the greatness of our country and its people, to speak the truth is a brave act.
I hope that your words will touch hearts and we can all try to stop this insanity. I often joke that if DHS protected us from terrorists like it protects us from landscapers and dishwashers, we would be the safest nation on earth. After Postville, it's no joke.
Thanks again. I admire your character.
Andrew J. Driggs, Esq. Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP Las Vegas, NV
Date: Fri 11 Jul 17:09:26 EDT 2008* From: Luz Oramas
Dear Erik,
I hadn’t had time to read your essay, and now that I’ve read it, I send you this quick note to congratulate you and to thank you, because you did what many of us would have like to do but didn’t dare or make the time to.
Again, my compliments.
Luz Oramas Federally Certified Interpreter
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 17:32:40 EDT 2008* From: "Lisandro Perez"
Erik, I read with great satisfaction about your courageous stance on the Iowa case. I am very proud that a colleague at FIU stood up and did the right thing. Thank you.
Dr. Lisandro Pérez Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology Florida International University
Date: Fri 11 Jul 17:51:22 EDT 2008* From: Ginger
Hello Professor Camayd-Freixas,
Based on the post below, I send you this email with deep gratitude for what you've chosen to do and I'm hoping, continue to do. I couldn't help but think of the following:
"On some positions a coward has asked the question is it safe? Expediency asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right." – Martin Luther King Jr., November 1967
As you may not be surprised to hear, there are similar events in New Mexico.
As a public school teacher, I have met a few golden interpreters such as yourself, who I think realize their position is inherently political and they, too, have chosen to use their knowledge and power to challenge the status quo to work for social justice and human rights.
I honor you.
Ginger Looney Ph.D. Student, TESOL and Bilingual Education Language, Literacy, & Sociocultural Studies University of New Mexico District Resource Teacher Department of Language & Cultural Equity Albuquerque Public Schools
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 18:02:20 EDT 2008* From: "Fernandez, Alicia"
Dear Professor Camayd-Freixas
After reading the article in today’s NYT, I want to thank you for your brave act of witness.
I am a physician and health services researcher at UCSF, where I study the impact of language barriers in health care.
While recognizing the importance of confidentiality in the role of the interpreter, I think there are times to speak out and wanted to thank you for doing so now. I am sure it was not easy decision.
Best wishes,
Alicia Fernandez, MD Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine Division of General Internal Medicine UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital
Date: Fri 11 Jul 18:43:37 EDT 2008* From: "NANCY MASSEY"
Dr. Camayd-Freixas, God bless you for speaking out about this broken system. As a person who has much compassion for immigrants, and many of these people I know personally and hold near and dear in my heart, I was just overwhelmed with appreciation for what you have done.
It is time this country regain its identity as the compassionate people we once were.
People like you can help all of the uninformed citizens what is really going on in this broken system. I cannot thank you enough for the courageous stand you took.
Sincerely, Nancy W. Massey
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Date: Fri 11 Jul 20:48:25 EDT 2008* From: "Dewell Crews"
Dear Sir: Thank you for taking a stand in regards to the unfortunate positions of the people who worked at the meatpacking plant in Iowa find and found themselves in.
It is sad but remarkable that in America, we have a policy of arresting and deporting those people who put food on our plates.
Thank you for your recent essay. American is better today because of your willingness to bring the plight of these immigrants before all peoples.
Thank you, Dewell Timothy Crews
Date: Fri 11 Jul 21:19:52 EDT 2008* From: "Lori Crook"
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas,
I'm sure you are being bombarded with emails at the moment, but I just wanted to thank you for your courageous letter regarding the raids in Iowa.
I am a volunteer in Queens, NY at a Latin American community organization (Make the Road New York), and I meet people constantly whose families have been torn apart by ICE raids.
I see, too, how people who don't speak English find themselves on the outside, without easy access to competent legal counsel, affordable English classes, or accurate information regarding immigration law.
What is amazing to me is how few people know what is going on, let alone take a stand.
I am inspired by your willingness to tell the truth, and I hope that your letter will result in more respect for the civil rights of all people who reside in this country, regardless of their immigration status.
With admiration and respect,
Lori Crook
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Date: Sat 12 Jul 00:04:41 EDT 2008* From:
Dr. Camayd,
Many students have written to me. They have asked where they can write to on your behalf. The students want to support your cause. I have been amazed by how many have written to me already.
Do you know what they can do, if anything?
Thanks,
Ms. Kristina Hernandez Department of Modern Languages Graduate Secretary
Date: Sat 12 Jul 00:12:14 EDT 2008* From: "Guzman, Becky A"
I simply want to express my gratitude for your thoughtful, honest and brave account of your experience during the proceedings that immediately followed the ICE raid in Iowa.
You have articulated in such a clear and concise manner a number of extremely important issues involving immigration and customs enforcement as well as the criminal justice system.
Thank you for giving a public voice to those unable to do so themselves.
Becky Guzman Attorney at Law/Licenciada en Derecho Columbus, Ohio
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Date: Sat 12 Jul 00:48:07 EDT 2008* From: Aaron Ruby
Dear Professor Camayd-Freixas,
I am a translator and interpreter, and a member of the ATA, NAJIT, and HITA. I want to express my admiration for your decision to stand up for all of us, by standing up against injustice. You have done our profession a great service. I hope your actions will inspire others in our profession. I have spoken with a number of colleagues, and all of them are very supportive.
I worked for the longest 18 months in a meatpacking plant. I have never fully recovered the use and sensation in my hands as a result of having to cut 8,000 to 13,000 hams a day on a break saw. I would challenge any of those anti-immigrant bashers to work for a week in one of these plants. None of them would last a day.
I hope to meet you some day to congratulate you in person.
Dear Fellow Members of HITA:
I applaud Professor Camayd-Freixas for standing up for justice and ethics, in a particularly egregious violation. I would encourage all HITA members to express their support for the interpreter, Professor Camayd-Freixas. His actions have made me proud to be a member of the translators' profession.
As interpreters, as human beings, it is our ethical and moral duty to stand up and speak out for justice, in defense of the constitution and equal rights. While the government may seek to convince us otherwise, the democratic rights of the constitution apply to all persons within the United States, regardless of immigration status.
To bring federal felony charges against these workers for sacrificing in the hell of meatpacking plants to feed their families (and us) is in fact a crime itself.
Professor Camayd-Freixas is a hero.
Best regards to all, Aaron Ruby
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Date: Sat 12 Jul 04:26:30 EDT 2008* From: "Chris Hackman"
Erik,
Your essay made my mother cry, but I guess I'll forgive you. ;)
I truly can't thank you enough for all you've done to expose this story to the American public in such a thorough and articulate manner.
Were it not for you, I have little doubt that the tone and details of the court proceedings would have never been fully known even to those of us here in Postville, much less the public in general.
The serious and tangible questions your essay has presented in such a precise and yet emotionally honest manner gives me hope that the story of what happened in Postville will not only remain a news item, but may actually effect positive change.
Thank you again!!!
Chris Hackman, Postville, Iowa
Date: Sat 12 Jul 10:23:34 EDT 2008* From: Rafael Trevino
Date: Sat 12 Jul 12:34:51 EDT 2008* From: "Elise Wang"
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Date: Sat 12 Jul 15:14:40 EDT 2008* From: John Beal
I am an attorney who practices in the Federal court in Chicago. I have many Spanish speaking clients and work closely with the Federal court interpreters here. I am constantly trying to impress upon the Federal judges here the importance of linguistically and culturally accurate translation and interpretation.
I also presently have one case involving the prosecutors in the N.D. of Iowa, who are being very harsh.
I would be glad to share the essay with Kevin DeVany, the head of the court interpreters office for the N D of Illinois. Many thanks.
John Beal
Date: Sat 12 Jul 18:56:20 EDT 2008* From: "John Chellino"
Erik, I just read the front-page NY Times article and watched the video interview as well. I absolutely agree with your position on this matter. In fact this increases my pride in the Translating & Interpreting profession.
As you know, the scapegoating of immigrants is nothing new in this country, but we are in a period where it is getting worse. I think you are correct to focus on the word ‘knowingly’ in the allegations in this case. And, regardless of the alleged offenses, when did we become a country that no longer treats human beings like human beings?
Thank you so much for courageously speaking out,
John Chellino, CT ATA-Certified Translator
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Date: Sat 12 Jul 19:05:47 EDT 2008* From: "Leonard Koenick"
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas:
As an attorney and one who use to do criminal defense work, it seems to me that what actually allowed the govt. to proceed was the acquiescence of the defense bar. If they had said no – and I think they should have --, the system would have ground to a halt. This happens all too frequently in these sorts of cases.
I would appreciate your thoughts on this.
Leonard Koenick Ft Washington, Maryland
Date: Sat 12 Jul 21:47:07 EDT 2008* From: "Chris Hackman"
Erik, I don't think I ever sent you the account from Mrs. Martin, a Postville school teacher who was taking a class on a field trip the day of the raid. She wrote the e-mail to friends and family (never intending for it to be distributed) the day after the raid as a means to decompress from all she went through with those kids, and it is still (along with your essay) one of the most gripping and emotional accounts I've read.
If you would be willing to include some first-hand accounts from Postville in your offer to the Congressional record, I'd encourage you to consider the experiences of Mrs. Martins from the Postville School and Sister Mary McCauley at St. Bridgett's Catholic Church.
I don't know when exactly you'll be going before Congress, but I'd be more than happy to compile and send you some more of the accounts and news items I've collected since the raid.
The last thing I'd like to mention is that with all of the miserable things that happened here, there were also many things that still make me proud of my town and my country, if not my government.
56
Many of the older High School students volunteered for days at the Catholic church to help feed and comfort the younger kids taking refuge there. Fourth and fifth generation Germans worked to cook and serve meals, just as they would have, were it a tornado relief effort. Food, clothing, volunteers, and cash donations (although never enough) poured into the Church from the surrounding communities almost immediately.
On the worst days I try to remember that, and I think that story is also important.
I believe there are few people who actually knew these people and witnessed this raid that are callous enough not to be saddened, angry, and just plain disgusted with our government.
Chris Hackman, Postville, Iowa
Date: Sun 13 Jul 00:24:30 EDT 2008* From: James Klein
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas,
As a U.S. citizen, I just wanted to send a brief note of thanks for your bringing this situation to national attention. I have been concerned for some time that our nation has lost our bearings in the immigration debate.
Enforcing the law is necessary and important but inflicting needlessly punitive measures on such a vulnerable population is simply un-American.
I hope your principled stance will help us restore some balance.
Thank you again for your courage.
Regards, James Klein
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Date: Sun 13 Jul 01:18:58 EDT 2008* From: Rosene Zaros
I was both impressed and inspired by your courage, a quality which seems to be in rather short supply in the translation-interpreting community.
The issues that you have raised in your essay and by your actions in making it public are ethical issues that are of major concern to all translators and interpreters. They need to be confronted and discussed. As you probably know, both ATA and NAJIT avoid taking a position on anything that is even remotely "controversial" and would prefer that there be no discussion.
For the past three years, The Gotham Translator, which is the newsletter of the New York Circle of Translators, has been attempting to raise consciousness among translators and interpreters as to the important role we now play in world and national events. Your account of the hearings in Iowa attests to that. Kind regards,
Rosene Zaros Editor, The Gotham Translator New York Circle of Translators
Date: Sun 13 Jul 01:51:57 EDT 2008* From: "Nataly Kelly"
Dear Dr. Camayd, I have just shared your essay with the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care.
Kindest regards, Nataly Kelly
Date: Sun 13 Jul 06:45:11 EDT 2008* From: "Marvin L. Zinn"
Erik: You are correct to reveal the completely wrong way many of our government agencies operate. We should be more concerned about the reason people are here than how they came. Most of the immigrants are merely trying to support their families.
Marvin
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Date: Sun 13 Jul 07:14:26 EDT 2008* From: "Vincent Coluccio"
Professor
I am the product of immigrants who came to this country 100 years ago from Europe. I look back on their experience and I am very grateful they did not meet the kind of brutality that you describe in your essay.
By writing your essay you took a courageous, honorable and just action.
Thank you,
Vincent M. Coluccio Red Hook, NY
Date: Sun 13 Jul 10:24:47 EDT 2008* From: Sonya Cronin
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas,
I am a doctoral student in the department of Religion at FSU. I just wanted to write that I think you did a wonderful thing.
Heros are made by how they act and defend others in unexpected and miserable circumstances. You have defended those that could not defend themselves.
Thank you for all you have done,
Sonya Cronin
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Date: Sun 13 Jul 12:18:13 EDT 2008* From: Mark Rosenberg
Erik,
I just wanted to let you know how appreciative I am that you have done the right thing on the immigration issue. I was pleased to see you recognized for your courage in the New York Times editorial today as well!
My mom was an immigrant, and a lucky one at that. She survived Auschwitz, only to be sent to a German displaced persons camp right after the war. Were it not for my dad--a US army captain who brought her to the US, who knows what might have happened to her.
She had a forceful advocate....just what many now have with you!
Way to go.
Dr. Mark B. Rosenberg Chancellor State University System of Florida
Date: Sun 13 Jul 12:57:58 EDT 2008* From: Gehrig Coleman
Professor - I am a high school teacher in Kansas City, Missouri. Thank you SO MUCH for your courage, your clarity, your research and attention to detail in your essay. I have never seen anything that so well answers the hysterical anti-immigration arguments that circulate around the internet and society.
My inner city black high school kids need to read this article, as do many of my friends and relatives. Please, please make this article available to copy for fair use.
Thank you again for your contribution to the current fight for rights, peace, and justice.
Sincerely, Gehrig Coleman
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Date: Sun 13 Jul 13:35:40 EDT 2008* From: Wheat Williams
Dr. Camayd-Freixas:
You are a patriot in the cause of justice and humanity.
You have done the people of the United States a great service by the publication of your essay, "Interpreting the Largest ICE Raid in U.S. History: A Personal Account".
I am grateful for your work. Please continue to be an advocate for justice whenever your personal experiences give you the opportunity.
I hope that the Florida International University community and administration are proud of you and your work, and that you receive their full support and admiration.
I pray for God's blessings upon you and your work.
With sincere thanks,
Wheat Williams & Celeste LeTard Williams Norcross, GA United States of America
Date: Sun 13 Jul 15:05:57 EDT 2008* From: "Rabbi David Siff"
Dear Professor Camayd-Freixas,
I am one of hundreds of rabbis around the country who have been concerned about the experience of these workers at Agriprocessors (and who refuse to eat anything sold by them), and was very concerned by what I have read about the court proceedings. Is there anything we can do at this point? I am sure we could have hundreds of letters sent from community leaders, if there was someone to send them to. Please let me know! Thanks,
Rabbi David Siff
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Date: Sun 13 Jul 15:18:08 EDT 2008* From: Roberta Gordon
Dear Dr. Camayd,
I read with admiration what you did at Postville. I would like to believe I would have done the same thing. Postville is the subject of a book, I suppose you know, and I have been interested in it from the beginning of the conversion of the factory into a kosher facility.
Being Jewish, I am particularly horrified that this whole takeover has been done by Orthodox Jews. One, they should know better, and Two, some rabbinical court ought to bring them up on charges.
Anyway, felicitaciones for being a grand human being.
Yours truly, Roberta Gordon (MA Yale, former French professor)
Date: Sun 13 Jul 17:35:08 EDT 2008* From: "Stephanie French"
Dear Professor Camayd-Freixas
I know you are overwhelmed these days with emails, but since I was following (and usually being infuriated by) the on-line comments to newspaper articles immediately after the raid (I am from Calmar, about 25 minutes from Postville but currently live in Angola), I wanted to put my voice out there to at least counter a potential negative response you might get.
Since I live so far away from my hometown now, I depend on various news sources to track what is happening, and so your essay was a welcome, if saddening, addition. Thank you so much for writing and publishing it, and I hope that its impact is wide and deep. If the human arguments don't persuade, perhaps the economic or legal arguments will.
I lived in Guatemala and worked with Guatemalans and Mexican families in Georgia some years ago. Sometimes I wish I would have stayed in the US to work on immigrant issues. But I do imagine that if I ever choose to return, there will still be a lot of work to do.
Thank you again,
Stephanie French
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Date: Sun 13 Jul 17:39:11 EDT 2008* From: Bradford Kirkman-Liff
You have done America a great service.
I have read your personal account of the ICE raid in Postville, Iowa.
You have spoken out about a great injustice that has been done to hundreds of innocent men and women.
Bradford Kirkman-Liff Professor of Health Policy and Biotechnology W. P. Carey School of Business Arizona State University
Date: Sun 13 Jul 19:36:29 EDT 2008* From: "Ed"
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas,
I have read your account of the events in Postville, Iowa, and I agree with you that a line has been crossed.
Some of us understand that “Fast-tracking” inflicted on minorities today will be inflicted on the majority one day, if the practice is not stopped. It’s time for those of us who understand this, to start knocking on the doors of those who don’t. We all must rise to the defense of the innocent, and of the Constitution.
Thank you for speaking out. I hope you will not pay a price for having the courage to do so.
With Kindest Regards,
Edward B. Ledford, Jr. President, Zoex Corporation Houston, TX
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Date: Sun 13 Jul 19:41:28 EDT 2008* From: "Mitch Trachtenberg"
Dear Prof. Camayd-Freixas,
Thank you for speaking out about the intolerable behavior of our government towards the Guatemalan and Mexican workers in Iowa.
Your essay manages to bring home the plight of these undocumented workers in a way that much that I have read does not.
I live in an area that has recently had immigration raids on one of our agricultural businesses (Sun Valley Floral Farms, in Arcata, CA), and I am distributing your essay to anyone whom I think may listen.
Thanks again.
Mitch Trachtenberg Trinidad, CA
Date: Sun 13 Jul 21:12:32 EDT 2008* From: "Martha Gies"
Dear Erik Camayd, It surely took courage and wisdom to do what you did. Bless you for your essay on behalf of justice for these oppressed people.
Sincerely, Martha Gies
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Date: Sun 13 Jul 22:41:50 EDT 2008* From: "Nilda Flores-Gonzalez"
Dear Erik- I was deeply touched by your article, I could not stop the tears from coming. I want to thank you and congratulate you on such an outstanding piece that tells it how it is.
Dr. Nilda Flores-Gonzalez Associate Professor Sociology and Latin American & Latino Studies University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Mon 14 Jul 07:23:33 EDT 2008* From: "Alex Lichtenstein"
Dear Erik,
You have made me proud to work at FIU.
Dr. Alex Lichtenstein Associate Professor of History Florida International University
Date: Mon 14 Jul 07:24:12 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Re: Humanitarian Crisis To: [email protected]
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas:
I strongly support your essay-testimony for the legal abuses of the Immigration authorities. We need more people like you.
Sincerely, Jose Luis Rodriguez World Languages Department Chair Miami Coral Park Senior High School
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Date: Mon 14 Jul 10:47:51 EDT 2008* From: "Heather Hayes"
I am also an interpreter in federal court. I believe you did the right thing. I am sure it was difficult to cross the threshold of personal involvement, but we are human beings first, interpreters second. Well done.
Heather Hayes Certified Federal Court Interpreter TN-certified Court Interpreter
Date: Mon 14 Jul 11:40:59 EDT 2008* From: Judith Berlowitz
As a fellow Court Interpreter I would like to express my heartfelt support for your courage to speak out at the outrages committed against these human beings at the hands of Homeland Security. You place everything in perspective and I hope it serves as an example for other colleagues to follow. With respect and admiration,
Judith Berlowitz, PhD, Certified Federal Court Interpreter Oakland, California
Date: Mon 14 Jul 11:53:13 EDT 2008* From: Margaret Christian
I've just read your personal account of the events in Postville via a link in the New York Times online. Thank you for your service and for bearing witness--
Margaret R. Christian, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English Penn State Lehigh Fogelsville, PA
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Date: Mon 14 Jul 11:51:41 EDT 2008* From: "Rosa Soy"
I have just read your most thorough and impressive essay "Interpreting after the Largest ICE Raid in US History: A Personal Account" and I felt I needed to personally thank you for your bravery and your commitment to the real ends of justice. You are my new hero!
After 25 years as an attorney practicing Immigration Law I find that the current times are truly the worst we've ever experienced. The prevalent xenophobia is at the very least worrisome. Unfortunately you were a first-hand witness to what many of our clients endure on a daily basis at the hands of an out- of-control system.
Thank you again for speaking out. May your words be truly heard by others. I fully agree with the woman you mentioned -- This is definitely not humane and there HAS to be a better way.
Rosa H Soy
Date: Mon 14 Jul 12:18:48 EDT 2008* From: "Elizabeth Babcock"
I read your essay and was moved to tears (again). The injustice of the way the raid was planned and conducted is shocking. Thank you again for telling their story in such a reasoned and empathetic way. If there are opportunities to assist these workers, their families or a larger cause working to prevent similar events in the future, please keep me informed. I would love to do more.
I was raised by my grandmother who spoke only reluctantly about her journey to the US and early years here. Being the third oldest in a family with 12 children from one of the poorest places in western Ireland, she was sent to the US on a ship when she was old enough to work, around 16. She always thought she would be going back, but that was not to be. For almost 10 years, she served as a housekeeper to the wealthy back when Pittsburgh had an elite class. Though by then the Irish had reached positions of power and authority in many places, there was still a strong prejudice against newcomers. She did get called racial slurs.
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I always hold this overarching storyline in my head when I think about America. Rather than being a cynic as many my age are, I prefer to believe that America does offer the promise of freedom and opportunity that many in the world can only dream of. We simply must work to ensure our systems for carrying out justice reflect the fundamental values of our country, not the nativist fringe.
It upsets me greatly to see any form of injustice, but in particular I am bothered by this story. Many of the same elements that bothered you also stand out to me: the fact that most were poor, illiterate, Native American peasants; that many might have qualified for asylum given the human rights situation in Guatemala, that they were shackled and treated like dangerous criminals when nothing could be farther from the truth. And I am greatly saddened to think about so many of them sitting in prison right now, waiting to be deported; wondering about their families.
Again, if you know of any opportunities to help in either a large or small way, please let me know.
Best wishes, Liz
Date: Mon 14 Jul 12:28:08 EDT 2008* From: "irma olmedo"
Irma Olmedo
Date: Mon 14 Jul 12:51:42 EDT 2008* From: "Catherine OKane"
Having read your essay about the ICE raids in Postville Iowa, I was wondering if there is any action to help the families of the victims financially.
Many thanks, Catherine O'Kane Danby, VT 68
Date: Mon 14 Jul 12:52:47 EDT 2008* From: JENNIFER HORNER
I just want to thank you so much for your expose on Postville. I, too, am an interpreter in the court system (not federal--just local) and I commend you and label you with "hero" status, as far as I'm concerned.
Words cannot express my gratitude for your impeccable knowledge and eloquent articulation of what is REALLY going on. I hope your speaking-out eventually causes positive change in our current immigration system and the cost to you is not too great professionally, or otherwise!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your bravery!
Jennifer Horner, Director SW IA Latino Resource Center Red Oak, Iowa
Date: Mon 14 Jul 13:07:55 EDT 2008* From: Sara Fernandez-Cendon
I was touched by your description of the events - the inclusion of details such as your getting napkins for a man who couldn't stop crying turned your account into something I would consider mandatory reading for anyone wanting to understand the human cost of our broken policies. What impressed me the most, however, was the thorough but clear explanation of the moves that sealed the fate of these workers.
I'm aware of the fact that undocumented workers have broken the law, and I'm disgusted by the politics of the countries that have forced millions of their own people to migrate north in order to survive. But I can't imagine why the journey should have as brutal an end in the U.S. as the circumstances that originated it in the first place.
Thank you again for adding a new voice and lending legitimacy to such a sad struggle. Best, Sara Fernandez Cendon 69
Date: Mon 14 Jul 13:14:39 EDT 2008* From: "Luis Argueta"
Your essay about your experience in Postville, Iowa, is a testimonial of huge value and human courage. Moreover, your analysis sheds light on the national and international discussion of the immigration system in this country.
I commend you with my heart and intellect.
My second reaction was that it is essential to disseminate it in a Spanish-language version.
Luis Argueta Guatemala's F&G Editores
Date: Mon 14 Jul 13:40:11 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Fw: Immigration Issues Camayd article/NY Times To: Erik Camayd-Freixas
I am truly moved by your account. I never imagined that justice in this country had turned into a Roman circus o something like the courts of the Inquisition. It is truly shameful.
I was impressed by that profound phrase from the lips of an illiterate man: "God knows you are just doing your job to support your families, and that job is to keep me from supporting mine.” Even while being trapped by the centrifugal force of this country’s bureaucracy, he had the lucidity not to blame you for doing your duty. Her was an honest person.
Dr. Camayd, I want to ask you if I can share your essay with my colleagues at the bank. Thank you for sharing it.
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Date: Mon 14 Jul 13:56:05 EDT 2008* From: "Kelly Macias"
Dear Erik,
I want to thank you for writing such an articulate, well-researched and thoughtful essay. This appeals to many people- not just those in the translation and localization fields but also those of us who work in immigrant and refugee services and advocacy.
I do hope you will keep people informed about your testimony in Congress. The lack of due process, the inhumane treatment of immigrants in detention and the need for reform in our immigration laws are issues that should concern all of us in this country-citizen, resident, or undocumented worker.
Thank you for bringing such an important issue to light.
Sincerely,
Kelly Macias
------On Jul 14, 2008, at 1:57 PM, David K Link wrote:
Erik:
Just wanted to let you know that your personal account of Postville has now been circulated to our U.S. Attorney and (via the chief public defender in our district) to all of our federal defenders and CJA lawyers ... by our chief judge, the Honorable Kathryn Vratil !
She sent it out prior to, and in apparent anticipation of, Friday's publication in the Times.
I don't know if you could have anticipated the storm of reaction your act of courage was going to engender on all sides of the debate, but its effect has been profound. Thanks to you, I think they 71
will have a difficult time doing this again.
Warm regards, David Link GRAGERT HIEBERT GRAY & LINK Attorneys at Law Wichita, KS
-----Original Message----- From: David Phillips Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 1:31 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Fw: Article written by Erik Camayd-Freixas
----- Forwarded by David Phillips/KSF/10/FDO on 07/14/2008 01:25 PM -----
Gentlemen,
Judge Vratil asked that I send you this article that is slated to be printed in the New York Times.
Linda South
Date: Mon 14 Jul 16:12:45 EDT 2008* From: Debbie Smith
This is great news, David. And from the Chief Judge herself! Kudos.
And Erik, let me add my deep appreciation for making the Postville detainees' stories known. Already you are making a difference. I can't tell you from how many different sources I have received copies of your essay and the various NYT pieces, including from people in all walks of life from across Montana. . . Now I need to make sure that our US Attorneys and Federal Defenders Offices have them. I agree with David, that with the coverage your account has received - and will continue to receive following your testimony in Congress - the government will have a hard time repeating the events of the Waterloo livestock arena.
With much gratitude,
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Deborah S. Smith Reynolds, Motl and Sherwood, PLLP Adjunct Professor, The University of Montana School of Law Helena, MT
------
Date: Mon 14 Jul 16:24:21 EDT 2008* From: "Rosenfeld, James"
S. James Rosenfeld
Director, Continuing Legal Education Seattle University School of Law Seattle University School of Law educates lawyers who distinguish themselves through their outstanding legal skills and their dedication to law in the service of justice.
Date: Mon 14 Jul 16:30:25 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: NYTimes.com: The Shame of Postville, Iowa To: [email protected]
Erik, I received your email address from Rabbi Siff.
I am embarrassed as an American that our government can offend the spirit of this
country through actions such as this. I am also embarrassed as a Jew that the twisting of our religious principles and the violation of our moral ideals have led to this situation.
Date: Mon 14 Jul 17:55:54 EDT 2008* From: "Geoffrey Hoffman"
Dear Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas: Thank you for the piece I just read, “Interpreting after the Largest ICE
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Raid in US History: A Personal Account.” It was a moving and thoughtful account. As a practicing immigration attorney here in Miami and a former judicial law clerk for a federal judge in Michgian, I was very moved and touched by your piece. Thank you, again.
Best regards, Geoffrey A. Hoffman, Esq. Miami, Florida
Date: Mon 14 Jul 18:57:43 EDT 2008* From: "irma olmedo"
I just heard on National Public Radio that there's going to be a big demonstration in Iowa about this case with Jews and Catholics getting together to demonstrate.
I'm a member of a huge Presbyterian Church in Chicago, several thousand members and I referred to the NYTimes editorial at a meeting about the Annual Meeting of the Presbyterian General Assembly. The minister, John Buchanan, had already read the editorial and referenced it as well. There may be follow up at this church.
I'm also a prof. at Univ. of Ill Chicago and have been teaching a class on immigration and education and have been involved in an immigration research project with other colleagues.
If you're able to write another similar essay but a little shorter, we can disseminate it more widely to non-academics. Irma
Date: Mon 14 Jul 19:10:29 EDT 2008* From: "Heather Hayes"
Watching now:
During Chattanooga’s Tyson Foods trial in 2003, Judge R. Allen Edgar ruled that dozens of workers should never have been prosecuted for
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fraudulent use of Government-issued IDs, because SOCIAL SECURITY CARDS ARE NOT IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS, according to the definition contained in 18 U.S.C. § 1546(b).
Date: Mon 14 Jul 21:56:56 EDT 2008* From: Simi Storm
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas, I would first like to applaud you for speaking out against a system of injustice. It took great courage and strength to do what you did. Our world needs more great people like you.
I heard your interview on Democracy Now this morning and am extremely concerned about the welfare of the families of the arrested workers. Do you have any thoughts about how I could help them?
Thank you again for raising the public awareness to injustice in our country.
Simi Storm
Date: Mon 14 Jul 22:00:43 EDT 2008* From: Patricia Klindienst
Dear Prof. Camayd-Freixas,
Thank you for your courageous act of witness on behalf of the powerless immigrants rounded up in the shameful raid in Iowa.
I was especially moved by your description of the people, their modest stature, their Mayan origins, their illiteracy in any language--very much like millions of immigrants who came to America a hundred years ago (and who are still coming). Very much like my immigrant grandparents.
You have rendered a great service to those of us who remember what this country ought to be about by showing us a model of quiet, dignified, reasoned
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opposition to abuses of power, and in speaking so well for those who have no voice.
I am going to call my congressional representatives to ask what they intend to do about this--and to urge them to call for investigations, and to move to secure justice and fairness for these people. I worry about their fate, and about their families who cannot help them and who depend on them for support.
May your words help these people be set free.
Patricia
Date: Mon 14 Jul 22:05:59 EDT 2008* From: "Jackson Chaney"
There were a lot of problem in Postville. The policy decision to bring criminal charges started the whole mess. Then, we had “overcharging” issues.
A post today on AILA Message Center:
_____
I read Dr. Camayd's article on the Internet this morning before going to my office. I was stunned at the gall of the US Attorney, or devious assistant US Attorney who devised this large scale, "meatball surgical use" of criminal charges to criminalize illegal immigration. This is not justice.
Each Defendant was overcharged with an unprovable charge, i.e. aggravated identity theft. The "plea agreement" was good for 7 days; the govt would have to show probable cause on the aggravated identity theft charge in 10 days which as the incredibly thorough and scholarly article points out, was probably not sustainable in the vast majority of the cases.
I too defended a volume of criminal cases on behalf of illiterate Guatemalans in a Georgia county for about five years as a court appointed lawyer. I did my duty in each and every case regarding advising the client of immigration consequences of what the client was doing. However, as a criminal lawyer I also had an equal duty to pay attention to how much prison time was on the table in each and every case if trial was sought.
Most of my illiterate Guatemalan clients with rare exceptions opted against trial but as a criminal defense lawyer under Georgia law there is much you can achieve with creative and/or well researched motions which can avoid a trial and expose the weakness of the indicted (or in some cases accused) charges. In Postville, this was set up so that most 76
lawyers would not see this. Never, however, was I offered pleas which so artfully 'rigged the system' like the way the Postville cases were clearly masterminded. I will comment however, that in my experience, Georgia criminal law is much more rights-oriented than the federal system in the manner in which it functions. I cannot help but agree with Dr. Camayd that the whole system of plea offers which dropped the aggravated identity theft charges in exchange for SS fraud was carefully orchestrated to make illiterate defendants choose between five months and two years of jail time.
This author did such a good job that he, a non-lawyer, figured this out. It is true that there are not many criminal defense lawyers who are versed in immigration remedies. It is also true that there are not many immigration lawyers who truly appreciate how the criminal system really works. Accordingly, I encourage each and every AILA member to volunteer to advise public defenders offices about immigration consequences. We need to avoid future Postville situations - better educated federal defenders offices might make the next Postville blow up in ICE's face.
I think that Dr. Camayd should get a Pulitzer Prize for journalism for this article even though he is an interpreter, not a journalist.
Finally, someone has exposed the rather obvious links paraded about by the conservative Congress which creates criminal aliens out of garden variety illegal aliens, and the bogus link showing that criminal alien pleas tends to show success on the war on terror. Last but not least, Dr. Camayd shows that Government grows like a cancer if a new agency can show numbers as a result of greater spending.
Is the U.S. any safer after the creation of the US Department of Homeland Security?
_____
D. Jackson Chaney CHANEY & LANE Irving, TX
Date: Mon 14 Jul 23:32:44 EDT 2008* From: "Maria Cecilia Marty"
Several of us interpreters are considering traveling to DC to give you moral support. DC area interpreters also want to do as much. We wanted to share with you how we feel.
Godspeed, 77
María Cecilia Marty Certified Federal Interpreter FITTServices, Inc.
Date: Tue 15 Jul 01:28:05 EDT 2008* From: Ted
Erik:
My wife and I just watched Amy Goodman's Democracy Now interview of you re the 400 arrested/sentenced Guatemalans. If someone's taking donations to assist the injured families please let us know how to contact them.
Thanks
Dr. Ted Keller Emeritus Professor of International Relations San Francisco State University
Date: Tue 15 Jul 01:34:57 EDT 2008* From: Libby Palmer
I hope you receive many other letters such as this one, commending you on your bravery and fairness in bringing the Postville situation to light.
Thanks to the web, we are passing this info throughout our personal networks but I fear that, because of the extreme secrecy surrounding the Postville event, it WILL happen again.
What can we, in Port Townsend, Washington, do to help? Even here, in our town that barely has 100 Hispanics, the Border Patrol has lately been cruising the streets along the waterfront, searching for what? Illegal aliens? People smuggled in from Canada on small boats? Muslims? We townspeople feel resentment against their presence - Is that their goal? Intimidation? They do not make us feel more secure at all. On the contrary. 78
I feel sickened at this situation.
But thank you for your clarity and honesty.
Libby Palmer Port Townsend, WA
Date: Tue 15 Jul 02:21:41 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Your voice. To: [email protected]
Dr. Camayd Freixas,
Sir Edmund Burke wrote:
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing."
God Bless you for your voice !
Thomas A. Kennedy, P.A. Vero Beach, FL
Date: Tue 15 Jul 07:13:31 EDT 2008* From: Gisèle Hamelin - Michael Fish
Dear Sir,
I read the story about the Central American workers when the Times published the original story a few weeks ago with sadness and shock as to how any system could be so brutal with essentially hard working and honest people.
It was only today that I saw the video Interview that you gave the Times.
Hearing and seeing you tell your story lent a new dimension to the matter.
I want you to know that you are a good person and that what you did by speaking out was a credit to all humanity.
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There should be a general amnesty in the United States for all Central American workers and their families.
Thank you, Michael Fish Longueuil, Canada
Date: Tue 15 Jul 10:05:13 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: detained Guatemalans-New York Times article Sunday To: [email protected]
I read the Sunday New York Times article concerning the arrest of the Guatemalan workers in Iowa. I was appalled, both for them and for the vanishing human decency here in America.
Can you suggest anything helpful that I might do-- for them or for their families? I am going to Guatemala in November to teach. If there is anything I can do now to help this shameful situation, please let me know.
Dinah Harlow
Date: Tue 15 Jul 10:53:31 EDT 2008* From: [email protected] Subject: Recognition by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers To: [email protected]
Profesor,
I am the President of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and upon reading an article in the NY Times about your conduct in the aftermath of the Iowa mass prosecutions of persons without proper immigration documents and related offenses, I was very impressed. NACDL objects to these mass prosecutions, which began in several Southwestern states as part of what the Department of Justice refers to as Operation Streamline. I had recently written a column condemning the lack of process in these cases:
http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/ChampionArticles/A0804p5?OpenDocument
We commend you for speaking out as you did.
I am writing to inquire whether you would be willing to travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to receive a 80
commendation from the NACDL at our annual meeting. I am certain the Board would be interested in hearing a first-hand view of this deplorable situation.
Carmen Hernandez, President National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) 1660 L St., NW, 12th Floor, Washington, DC 20036
Date: Tue 15 Jul 12:35:22 EDT 2008* From: "Mark Dow"
Dear Professor Camayd-Freixas: I've just read your account. It is both powerful and informative. Thank you for writing it. Sincerely, Mark Dow
From: [email protected] Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 11:09 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: ncihc-members: Legal Interpreters and Immigrant Advocacy
BRAVO Nataly. I am so glad to hear your words. Some of the journalists made you sound critical of Dr. Camayd-Freixas.
I cannot express to everyone how glad I am that Dr. Camayd--Freixas did what he did.
My wife and I read his essay in its entirety and my life will never be the same. I sent it to Barack Obama, the only person who might actually be able to put a stop to ICE's criminal actions soon enough to save our country. THIS STORY DESERVES MAJOR NATIONAL ATTENTION.
Mathew Call Spanish/English Staff Interpreter Medical Interpreting & Cultural Services UC Davis Medical Center Sacramento CA
Date: Tue 15 Jul 14:04:39 EDT 2008* From: "Veronica Poses"
Professor Camayd-Freixas, I am writing to say thank you for being so brave and standing up to such an obvious case of human rights abuse. As an interpreter, I am very proud to have people like you in our profession. Thanks again,
Verónica Poses MN State Court Certified
Date: Tue 15 Jul 16:12:53 EDT 2008* From: "Eric Olson"
Dear Erik:
Thank you for putting such time and effort into exposing that part of our nation (which far too few people ever get to know about).
As an immigration attorney who represents inmates being released into federal custody when state prison terms are done, as part of my pro bono work, I understand very well how frustrating the entire immigration / criminal law experience can be. So much of it just plain DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.
I think we all need to start thinking a lot more about what makes sense, keeping religion out of politics, and doing what is truly best for everyone present in our country.
Over and over again, for example, I just cannot believe how readily our system takes mothers and fathers from their children--in many cases for what I consider to be completely victimless crimes. Kids need their moms and dads, period.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Eric E. Olson, Attorney Olson & Ishizuka Law Offices, P.C. New York, New York
Date: Tue 15 Jul 22:17:22 EDT 2008* From: "lenore mcgarry"
Professor Camayd- Freixas, I am sorry to bother you at what must be an extremely busy time for you. However, I want to know if any group is supporting the immigrants during their time in prison. I was not able to find any such group by Google searching. I assume they need many things, including some moral support. 82
I also would like to thank you for bringing the details of this raid to the attention of so many people.
Lenore McGarry
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Martin Luther King, Jr.
Date: Wed 16 Jul 00:08:09 EDT 2008* From: "Michael Johnson Jr."
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas,
Thank you for speaking out. Far too often these legal proceedings are taking place “secretly” in the legal system and not being reported on, or only selectively being reported to the public simply as sensationalism. Thank you for voicing your observations about the terrible “choices” that these defendants had to make and exposing the very real consequences of those decisions. Too many people are unaware of the ingenious, inventive and horrible catch-22’s that government prosecutors come up with to compel decisions in their favor. And I also thank you for informing America of the political policy implications associated with these cases.
It’s clear that the unethical and highly questionable use of terrorism related legal measures for the normal implementation of regular immigration policy is especially troublesome and undermining of our judicial system.
Thank you. It was a brave thing to do and while I don’t know what the personal consequences of your decision may have been, I can say that I’m proud of your willingness to take those risks because your actions speak volumes about the caliber of your character.
Thank you.
M.J.
Michael Johnson Jr. 2008 USF Pan - American Fellow 2008 Senator William J. Fulbright Fellowship Nominee University of South Florida Department of Humanities & American Studies Cooper Hall 278
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Date: Wed 16 Jul 01:02:31 EDT 2008* From: "EXT-Whitford, Ellen L"
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas, I'm writing simply to send a heart-felt thank you for your detailed and moving "essay" and your audio interview that I found on the NYTimes.
I'm a former newspaper reporter who thought I could no longer be so thoroughly shocked, angered, or moved to tears. Your accounting of the raid and its immediate aftermath proved I was mistaken.
I'm a member of a class list-serve at Columbia School of Journalism and a friend has posted links to your essay, as well as links to the related pieces in the NYT, in the hopes of spurring practicing journalists to take the story further.
We believe this needs the widest possible audience…. The New Yorker, The Nation, Atlantic Monthly…. and less august publications, too.
I know I speak for thousands of people when I say I credit you with bringing this outrage to the national stage. I am so grateful. I only wish I knew what to do next.
Ellen Whitford
Date: Wed 16 Jul 09:25:26 EDT 2008* From: "Sarabeth Anderson"
I work for the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence. I am in charge of writing our newsletter. I was told that you had given permission for others to re-print your article about your experience in Postville. Our newsletter is electronic and our plan is for our executive director to refer to the article in her column and to attach it at the end of the newsletter. Please let me know if this is acceptable
Sarabeth Anderson
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Director of Development Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence Des Moines, IA www.icadv.org
Date: Wed 16 Jul 10:30:29 EDT 2008* From: "Kelly Ryan"
Dear Professor Camayd:
Thank you very much for publishing your essay on the Postville, Iowa prosecutions. What the government is doing to immigrants is absolutely atrocious. Many who support the anti-immigrant rhetoric have no idea that our government is carrying out anti-immigrant policies in this sort of harsh, tyrannical and utterly un-American way. I appreciate you taking the time and risking so much to let the public know what our government is doing. I am hopeful that your essay will trigger reform that will inject some due process into immigration raids and immigration related criminal matters.
Thank you again. Sincerely,
Kelly L. Ryan, Attorney Stern, Elkind, Curray & Alterman, LLP Denver, CO
Date: Wed 16 Jul 13:31:08 EDT 2008* From: "Magnuson, Mary"
Dear Sir:
I’ve just finished the article you wrote with regard to the ICE raid in Iowa in May. I have no words – none – to tell you how deeply this has touched me. As I sit here – at work – teary-eyed and attempting to hide my emotions from co-workers, I imagine the children, the mothers, the men – the human beings – who were treated so horribly by the government of the United States of America – a country which I have loved all of my life.
The purpose of this email, sir, is to thank you for sharing your story, as it is, to say the least, so very, very important. 85
Again, thank you. I weep for our nation.
Mary Magnuson Brookfield, Wisconsin
Date: Wed 16 Jul 22:07:22 EDT 2008* From: "carmen ramirez"
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas, I sincerely thank you for eloquently sharing your experience of what happened in Iowa on Democracy Now!
I am sharing your written essay with my colleagues. We are working on getting our local elected officials in this agricultural community to support comprehensive immigration reform.
Many people who are safe and well-established are afraid to support our efforts because of the hateful things that our fellow citizens do and are capable of. The Minutemen are a presence in our community and some people here get elected because of their anti-immigrant positions.
Sometimes I feel that we are being like "good Germans" staying silent when we need to shout about the inhumanity shown to our fellow human beings. Thank you for speaking out,
Best wishes,
M. Carmen Ramirez, Esq. Community Planning Director CAUSE Ventura, CA
Date: Wed 16 Jul 20:39:59 EDT 2008* From: "Felicia Duque Black"
Dear Professor Camayd, Julia Preston of the NY Times was kind enough to e-mail me your essay on the immigration practices and our disgusting legal practices against people who really could not defend themselves.
Unfortunately, I believe this type of behavior is not unique to this immigration sweep, but rather exists to a smaller extent all over the country.
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I want to thank you for your kindness and bravery in publishing this article and making thinking Americans aware of the injustices that are being forced down the throat of ignorant scared people.
Take care Felicia Duque Black
Date: Wed 16 Jul 23:12:41 EDT 2008* From: "Martha de Forest"
Dear Dr. Camayd-Freixas,
I chanced upon your personal account today. It took me eight hours to read the fifteen pages, mostly because I just could not stand to see what I know is the truth. I thank you for writing your account.
Your account fits into a larger picture that I’m observing. A year ago my daughter was required to read the Diary of Anne Frank. I’ve been reflecting since on the many ways that we are shifting to a place where the atrocities of the Holocaust could be reenacted in our own country. There are groups of people who are actively trying to disarm our populace. There is an effort to institute a “RealID”. We have government agencies terrorizing powerless subgroups.
Concerning the government agencies, I was in Santa Cruz County, California when multiple agencies conducted a drug raid on a secluded hospice center used by terminally ill patients to live out their final days. The center cultivated their own marijuana and was on cordial relations with the local sheriff.
We can only hope that Americans awake from their political slumber before their apathy enables even worse abuses.
In Liberty,
Martha de Forest, Vice President Braun Science & Engineering, Inc. Seabeck, WA
Date: Wed 16 Jul 23:57:52 EDT 2008* From: Bruce Rosen
Dr Camayd-Freixas:
I read your extraordinary & distressing essay via a link from the New York Times editorial page. You've documented in an incident why we don't have to
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look beyond our borders to see what we are letting be done in our country's name -though we can, obviously.
I think you are a great hero & an exemplar of citizenship for our planet.
Thank you. Bruce Rosen
Date: Thu 17 Jul 06:22:34 EDT 2008* From: Eleanor Kilroy
Dear Dr Erik Camayd-Freixas,
I wanted to write to you to express my thanks and my admiration for the thoughtful piece that you wrote on your experience as an interpreter for the defendants in the Postville raid. I am neither an American citizen, nor do I live in the United States, but I am a regular reader of the DemocracyNow! news website and was moved enough by your interview with Amy Goodman to go on to read your personal account. I will now forward it to my sister who is an immigration and asylum lawyer here in London.
There are so many frightening conclusions that one can draw from your account. Americans are coerced into fearing and despising ‘the other’ so that the exploitation of this ‘other’ is not experienced as intolerable, inhumane, unjustifiable – all of which it is, as your prescient account shows beyond doubt.
Very best wishes, Eleanor Kilroy
Date: Thu 17 Jul 12:35:42 EDT 2008* From: "Anna Corbett"
I just wanted to write and let you know how much I appreciated your beautifully written essay from your experience with the Postville raid. As someone who constantly receives Ann Coulter books from family members at Christmas, I always love being able to provide for THEM well-written, full-spectrum informational resources when the topic of “immigration” comes up. Obviously, it’s never enough to just stomp your feet and say “NO FAIR!”, and essays like yours really help to inspire those of us who are trying to communicate more than just our bleeding heart liberal side and actually be concise, factual, AND compassionate.
Thank you again and I look forward to reading anything further you may produce as a result of your translation experiences.
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Sincerely,
Anna Marie C. Corbett Paralegal to Jesse Maanao Parker, Bush & Lane, PC Portland, OR Date: Thu 17 Jul 07:10:15 EDT 2008* From: Rod Perdue
Thank You for doing the right thing. Moral and just values are under attack in this county. All we have is our humanity and each other. Be strong sir, I consider you an honorably and just man.
In Solidarity,
Rod Perdue
Date: Thu 17 Jul 14:02:57 EDT 2008* From: "Fernandez, Danielle Leigh"
Only moments ago I finished reading your report on the ICE raid at Agriprocessors, Inc. and found that I could not wait to send you a note of appreciation for the work that you do both as interpreter and advocate.
As someone who helped to establish a medical interpreting agency in Asheville, NC (The WNC Interpreter Network) before returning to graduate school to study rhetoric (with a focus on immigrant criminalization), your work has enlivened my resolve and confirmed some of my greatest fears about current immigrant persecution.
I have started working on my dissertation which, as it turns out, is much reflected in your analysis, though I do draw some different conclusions about the role played by Congressional legislation, arguing that the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 set the framework for expanded rubrics of criminality. This is one aspect of my research that requires considerably more investment.
In closing and having spent many years of my life fighting for immigrants' rights, I know how difficult it can be to speak up. Perhaps this is the real reason for my contacting you, which you so eloquently narrated in the exchange between defendant and judge: It is through compassion and recognition that we truly become human. Thank you for your work and for your
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message. I'm sure to be only one of many through which your words now resonate.
Sincerely,
Danielle Fernandez
Date: Thu 17 Jul 15:23:16 EDT 2008* From: Georganne Weller
Dear Erik,
Two colleagues have sent me the article "An Interpreter Speaking up for Migrants" that appeared in the New York Times - congratulations - we precisely need more of this kind of quality publicity for the profession!
Best wishes,
Dr. Georganne Weller Facultad de Antropología e Historia Universidad Autónoma de México
Date: Thu 17 Jul 16:03:05 EDT 2008* From: bill quigley
Erik,
I do not think you can overestimate the importance of what you have done.
For many of us your detailed observations and insights prove exactly what we feared the most - we do not treat some people as people.
I am not sure at all how the legal system will address it, but as with the prisoners at Guantanamo, there has to be some way to allow basic humanity to have a chance.
I thank you for your integrity and courage and competence.
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I am also quite interested in anything else you write.
Peace and justice,
Bill Quigley Loyola University New Orleans
Date: Thu 17 Jul 17:59:37 EDT 2008* From: "Sandra Sanchez"
Dear Prof. Camayd,
I simply wanted to thank you for the courage and integrity you have shown to the profession, and the nation by speaking up regarding what you witnessed from your unique position as an interpreter during the court proceedings against the raided immigrant workers from Postville. I’m also in a unique position to fully understand your own personal and professional struggle dealing with the moral dilemma you faced!
As an Iowan, an immigrant citizen, a court interpreter, and an immigrant rights activist. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!!
I also want to share that I totally support the views you expressed throughout your essay. I am a Board of Immigration Appeals Accredited Representative, and as such I have enough of a legal background to support your statements in that respect as well. I’m the co-author and organizer of a Raid’s Response Team (ISNET) in Iowa. Two hours after the raid, we were ready with a team of immigration lawyers to serve the detainees to no avail. I have been heavily involved in the response to Postville’s raid, reason why I thought pertinent to express my support and gratitude to you!
Your analysis of the situation is right on. There were numerous irregularities in the treatment of those workers—for many of whom Spanish was their second language…not to mention the fact that they knew little or no English. Last month, I wrote an article for our newsletter entitled “Questionably Legal, Clearly Immoral”.
http://www.afsc.org/central/documents/QuestionablyLegal-SandraSanchezonPostville.pdf
What happened to the workers in Postville is a shame. The authorities involved made a farce of our judicial system and criminalized innocent people for no good reason other than to justify spending billions of dollars in the name of homeland security!
Your essay should reminds us all of Ben Franklin’s words: “Those who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Not speaking up now for those who are more vulnerable than ourselves is like giving up our own liberties later on.
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Thanks for modeling for the profession, but mostly thanks for modeling what a dignified human being can do! God bless you,
Sandra Sanchez AFSC Immigrants Voice Program Director Des Moines, IA
Date: Thu 17 Jul 23:13:02 EDT 2008* From: "Marilyn Zeledon"
I want to join the many people who welcome your essay, which we hope will result in a revision of the mechanisms employed.
Congratulations for having taken such a valiant step. Many of us in the practice of our profession have witnessed similar situations and believed there is nothing within our reach to improve such treatment. You have given us a great lesson, and the least we can do is to join you in your cause.
Best regards,
Marilyn Zeledón Translator / Interpreter
From: AILA Advocacy Dept [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2008 5:46 PM* To: Jackson Chaney Subject: The Pulse: AILA's Capitol Beat - July 15, 2008
The Pulse: Your Resource for Immigration Advocacy
July 15, 2008
Director's Corner
Inside Politics
Many of you have seen by now the stunning first-hand account by Erik Camayd-Freixas of the kangaroo court proceedings that occurred in Postville, Iowa. Mr. Camayd-Freixas, a federally certified interpreter for 23 years, details the dehumanizing legal process that these workers were railroaded through. If you have not read his essay, you need to. Set aside 15 minutes and just do it.
Our immediate past President, Kathleen Walker, drafted an excellent model op-ed after the Iowa raids entitled Railroad Justice. The message she sought to deliver, however, is even more powerful against the 92
chilling backdrop of this inside account. We have posted her draft as a model op-ed for you to modify with local examples and use in reaching out to your local news outlets.
Marshall Fitz Director, AILA Advocacy
Policy Spotlight
Interpreting after the Largest ICE Raid in US History: A Personal Account
On the morning of May 12, 2008, roughly 900 agents from ICE (http://www.ice.gov/) gathered in the small town of Postville, Iowa to execute what would be, according to one of these agents, “the largest single- site operation of its kind in American history.” Far from a historic highlight in the annals of our history, however, what happened next will go down as one of the most shameful days this nation has ever known. And yet, were it not for the heroic actions of one man, a first-hand witness to this darkest of days, a man driven by bravery and moral outrage to report on and remove the shroud of secrecy from what he was about to see, the events of this date, and the subsequent ill-treatment and sufferings of hundreds of people who were affected as a result, might never have been recorded or noticed at all.
Close to 400 hard working individuals were arrested at the Agriprocessors meat packing plant in Postville that day in early May, seized by ICE agents for working without authorization, the result of their undocumented immigration status. The majority, according to a story in The New York Times, expected, even hoped, they would simply be deported, mostly so that they could find some other way of providing necessary financial support to their families back home. But in a chilling and courageous essay, Professor Erik Camayd-Freixas, an interpreter summoned to act as a court translator on behalf of those arrested, explains that for over 260 of these individuals, what they received instead--and how they were treated in the process--was a far cry from what they ever expected or imagined from the country that touts itself as "the greatest nation on earth," built and supported largely by its veritable "melting pot" of immigrants. A shameful day indeed.
The New York Times article by Julia Preston is available on the paper's website. You must sign in to view the piece. The Interpreter's piece is available on InfoNet. The Shame of Postville, a NY Times editorial, is also available on the paper's website and viewable after signing in.
Date: Fri 18 Jul 14:59:43 EDT 2008* From: "Keith Watts"
I am writing on behalf of our Latin American Studies program to invite you to speak on our campus. I read with great interest the recent article in the New York Times regarding your experience in Iowa. I was wondering if you might not be available this fall to speak to our students and community members here in West Michigan. Our local Latino community has been adversely impacted by the aggressive approach being taken by the government lately, and there would be many people interested in attending a talk. Our students would
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benefit greatly as well.
Dr. Keith Watts Interim Director of Latin American Studies Grand Valley State University Allendale, MI
Date: Fri 18 Jul 13:32:01 EDT 2008 From: "Emilee Whitehurst"
Dear Mr. Camayd-Freixas,
Thank you for witnessing so powerfully to the inhumane events that took place in the wake of the ICE raid in Postville. I have read with great interest your personal account of interpreting after the raid and also heard you on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman.
The Rothko Chapel is a sacred space, open to all people every day of the year. It was orchestrated by philanthropists John and Dominique de Menil and created by renowned abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko. It is dedicated to encouraging peace, freedom, and human understanding. The Chapel has a longstanding commitment to human rights and has hosted human rights activists and leaders including The Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter.
We would be delighted if you would agree to share your experience at the Chapel this fall.
Warm regards,
Emilee Dawn Whitehurst Executive Director The Rothko Chapel www.rothkochapel.org
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